Crow
by Dekallis
Summary: All hell has broken loose since Raven's birthday and another mystery wanders into town freind or foe? the titans will soon find out.
1. As the Crow flies

Crow - Another _D.K.S._ Production.

Chapter 1- As the Crow Flies

After the incident on Raven's birthday and Slade's return things went fairly back to normal except for Raven though she tried to act as she had before she found she couldn't help being more…emotional the feelings she'd kept bottled up for almost as long as she could remember were now seeping out and although they did occasionally cause a problem she managed to keep her powers mostly under control when her emotions showed themselves it was like a new beginning. Somehow what happened to her that day changed her inside she was more powerful than ever, but then again that was a bad thing knowing what was supposed to happen. She was also much more in control of her powers than before she was able to do things she previously could not or hadn't even thought of trying still it bothered her this change was not a good thing as most would have thought because it meant she was another step closer to fulfilling the prophecy of her future. She couldn't let that happen she wouldn't but so far there seemed to be no way to stop it Slade had been seemingly invincible with his new powers.

Raven was sitting on the roof of the Titans Tower. Staring out at nothing in particular just staring thinking about it all it had only been three days since her birthday and her powers had already grown so much. What would happen next time? Next time? Would there be a next time? She wasn't really sure her knowledge of what was supposed to happen was limited only to that she was supposed to receive a vision and something terrible was going to happen and it would be her doing she didn't know when exactly except that it started with her birthday…Slade had said she would destroy the world but why? What could possibly happen to her or anyone that would make her do that? What was it that would change her so drastically? Or maybe…it was an accident…maybe she simply lost control and it destroyed everything… for a second she thought she heard a Crow and it just occurred to her that one had been circling for awhile but had disappeared now.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the alarm going off signaling trouble. A second later she had phased through the ceiling and was standing in the Titans living room "What's going on?"

"Someone's breakin' into the tower!" Cyborg told her just as the doors flew off their hinges and hit the walls on either side.

"Whoops…sorry bout that the first set of doors were a lot stronger I didn't think they just go flying off like that…" Came the voice of a blue haired boy. He stood at about 5 feet 8 and ½ Inches. Wearing A very familiar looking Blue cloak except on the back of it written in Japanese were the words "Faith in Freedom". His boots were Black and he wore baggy black jeans His skin was a bit more tanned than Ravens was but still a bit pasty by normal standards and he was muscular well sort of not quite a muscle man but he defiantly was more built than Robin. His hair was spiked except for his bangs, which hung down to his shoulders on either side of his face. He wore black shades covering his eyes and had a smirk on his face that almost made him look evil. In one of his ears was an earring that had a small crimson ball dangling from it.

"Heya Raven, been a long time." He said stepping through the doorway as the Titans got ready for a fight. He glanced at them and spoke again "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said but of course he was ignored, beast boy leapt at him first. Raven was trying to place him she knew him but she couldn't remember…but she knew that voice…

Beast boy was caught in mid air surrounded by a familiar looking black energy. "DUDE this is SO not cool fight fair!" BB protested.

The Boy Simply laughed and with a flick of his hand BB was tossed aside landing in front of Cyborg.

"Titans GO!" Robin Yelled

"WAIT!" Raven yelled over him and everyone stopped in their tracks

"Oh remember me yet?" He asked staring at her. "Here let me help." He said removing his shades revealing eyes that had pupils of silver.

"dude…" beast boy said in awe everyone except Raven had a similar gasp or comment but now she knew who he was.

"Crow." She said plainly

"There you go now you've got it. I'm so glad I wasn't forgotten." He replied.

"Why are you here?" Raven crossed her arms as if angry that he'd shown up.

"In case you'd forgotten our birthday just passed." Crow stated imitating her.

"And?" She said getting annoyed

"and I came to see if your prophecy came true…" He said he sounded almost worried.

"hold on…"our" birthday?" Robin interrupted.

"Yes…we were born on the same day co-incidence or destiny? Who's to say? Even our names are linked Crows and Ravens are very closely related you know." Crow answered him.

"….So that's it…you're a part of it…aren't you?" Raven asked. Crow simply nodded as a response.

"What part do you play!" Raven asked hoping that maybe just maybe he could be her shot at preventing her future from happening.

"Just tell me what happened first…then I'll tell you mine." He replied.

Raven thought for a moment. "Alright…but let's talk…alone. Follow me." She said levitating up and phasing through the ceiling back onto the roof.

"ooh She's gotten better." Crow said doing the same. Once they were both on the roof Raven turned to him and removed her glove showing him the mark.

"Oh no…...no no…….Damnit." Crow said kicking at the ground

"You know what it means?" She asked him

"No…But I've seen it before and if you have the mark then…." He trailed off getting quiet.

"Then what?" Raven raised one eyebrow she was concerned because by now she had figured out whatever it was, was most definitely bad.

"Then…Raven I have to kill you." He said in a low tone. She gasped.

"well…I suppose that is the only way to stop it from happening…." She said turning from him.

"That's not all though" He said turning around

"Huh?" Raven turned back to him.

"I…I have a choice." He said.

"A choice?" She repeated questioningly.

"Yes…a few actually because of me there are a few ways things can turn out. I can either Kill you now and prevent it all from happening, not kill you and let it happen…and lastly…I Kill you and it happens anyway…supposedly by my hand" He said.

"wow…some options…" Raven said sarcastically she wasn't wild about any of the possibilities. And in two of them the world was destroyed anyway.

"wait…but if those are your options then why did mine only show me alone?" She asked

"I'm not sure…maybe there's another possibility maybe that's what happens if…you… kill me" Crow replied.

"Great…wait….do you know how it happens? What happens?" She asked.

"…No…to be honest I'm really not sure it wasn't clear how or why it happens…but I know that mark…it has a lot to do with it and there's supposed to be another being involved something evil…Very Evil…" He replied.

"I see…" She said figuring the evil to be slade by all means he was dead but somehow…he came back but what brought him back? She wondered.

"Hey raven…" Crow started.

"Yes?" She replied

"Why'd you leave Azarath?" He asked

Raven looked down at the ground. "I don't know really…maybe I just…I thought maybe if I left I could somehow stop it slow it down something…and I needed to get away from my father… at the time I thought he'd have something to do with triggering it." She answered

"I see…" was all Crow said as he leaned over the rooftop looking out at the water.

"I have an idea…" He said suddenly standing upright.

"and what might that be?" Raven asked curious as to what he was thinking.

"I'm going to help you…we'll try and change the future together if we combine out powers maybe….just maybe we can change things…your friends in there might be able to help too…" He said and Raven stopped him there

"No we can't ask them to help us not with this…in…my vision…they…were gone…all of them…" She said holding her arms as she shivered slightly at the memory.

"Raven…I doubt we could stop them from trying to help I know what you guys do here and do you really think that if the whole world not just this city were in danger they would ignore it just because you asked them to?" Crow said

"You're probably right…you weren't in my vision either…so maybe we can change things…maybe if you help it'll be different somehow…but..I can't take that chance with their lives Crow" She argued.

"Why don't you let them decide what chances to take?" He Replied. Raven couldn't argue with him she knew he was right but after what happened…

"Crow…on my birthday…" She started

"our" He corrected.

"Our birthday…One of our old enemies attacked the thing is…he was supposed to be dead we all saw him go into the lava and it sealed itself up we even later sealed the whole thing as a monument to someone we lost…but somehow…he came back on that day and he had powers he never had before he overpowered everyone… even me. He told me he had a message for me, his message was my vision…he reminded me that it will happen and told me that he's going to make sure of it. " She told him.

"hm…that does sound serious…very serious indeed…if he was the messenger then who was the boss?" Crow posed the question for the first time

"I don't know…Slade has always done things himself always been the puppeteer I have no idea who or rather what could be behind it…" Raven answered.

Their conversation was interrupted however by Robin coming onto the roof

"Sorry to interrupt…but We've got a message….it's from Slade and it's for you" Robin said looking at Raven.

"Alright…let's see it." Raven said starting toward the door follow by Crow, with Robin leading the way. When they entered the living room the others were already there once Cyborg saw them he started the message.

"Hello Raven…Crow I know your probably there by now you don't know me but I most certainly know you. You will not complete your task for I will not allow it Raven will Do just as she is supposed to and the Titans will be powerless to stop it. Worry not though dear Raven…you will not be alone there will be others when it's all said and done…yes…many others……" He said laughing and the message ended.

"Okay..somebody tell me what the heck is going on cuz I didn't understand a word of that." Cryborg said with a bewildered look on his face.

"This isn't good…he knows I'm here and why I'm here…but how?" Crow said to himself looking down with his arms crossed.

Robins eyes narrowed "What do you mean? What's going to happen Raven I think we have the right to know." he demanded.

Raven Sighed "Alright….I'll tell you what really happened…that day…" She began and explained the whole story everything from the prophecy to Crow's purpose.

"Well how can we trust him then if he's supposed to kill you!" Robin asked after she was done.

"Because I don't intend to do it Raven is an old friend I can't harm her simply because of what might happen…but I have to at least keep up the appearance that I intend to….or…there may be…" He paused searching for a word. "Complications" He said finally.

"what do you mean complications? Dude isn't this complicated enough? How can it get anymore complicated!" Beast boy burst out.

"Well Raven has Slade trying to push her towards her fate…I have someone trying to push me toward mine as well…her name is Marona. She's….well the opposite side of things. As far as I can tell I don't know who she works for but her powers over wind were incredible…in fact in some instances she was able to mirror me. She told me I would have to become much more powerful to complete my task but I don't understand what she meant…I'm already at the peak of my power judging by her skills with her powers now I'd say Raven is only a little below me but still below me nonetheless…" His story was cut off by Raven

"Unless she meant you would need that power to defeat slade…not me" She suggested.

"That's possible…It would make sense that she would know of the opposing forces and that I would have to deal with them…Originally I had planned to come here and see how Raven was doing if she was still the Raven I remembered…and she's changed quite a bit but nothing negative…I couldn't destroy her knowing she is not evil So instead I intend to fight this…slade and his master if they are defeated I think we won't have to worry about any of this." Crow stated looking around to get a feel for how everyone was taking it.

BB looked somewhat unsure, Starfire looked like she was ready to go and hunt for Slade right that second Robin looked as if he'd rather kick him out and deal with it himself, Cyborg was unintelligible, and Raven was doing the same thing he was.

"So you're telling me…that you want us to trust you to help fight slade even though this prophecy which has been one for one so far says that you are going to kill Raven, is that right?" Robin asked skeptical of Crows real intentions.

"Robin…" Raven started but Crow raised his hand and cut her off

"no Raven it's okay…if I were them I wouldn't trust me either. And I'd think ill of them if they were so easy to win over they wouldn't be very good friends to have you see…and I've noticed you and him have…a bond of some sort he is simply trying to protect you. I didn't exactly make a good case for myself busting in here…but then you guys don't exactly have a doorbell ya'know…still I will go it's probably better if I don't hang around anyway Marona might find out then we'd be in trouble…" Crow said turning to go.

"no…Crow…no stay please…I want…I want you to stay it's been so long since I've seen anyone from home…we have a lot to talk about…" Raven was practically pleading with him, which was rare, incredibly rare.

He hesitated for a moment. Then stopped entirely "Alright Raven if you really want me to stick around I will because you asked me to." He said turning around

"Raven…are you sure this is wise?" Robin whispered to her.

"No…but I don't think it really matters where he goes Robin…at least this way I can talk to him and catch up on what I've missed…since the life I left behind is coming back to bite me in the behind anyway…and besides I think the odds of him killing me are much less if we talk. As opposed to kicking him out into the street." She whispered back in a tone that showed she didn't appreciate Robin trying to speak for her. She knew what she was doing and if it didn't work and she got killed well…that was fine at least then the world was saved…hopefully. She'd left one life behind to protect others she'd gladly lose life if it meant saving the world.

The others weren't quite sure what to make of the whole thing but of course Starfire couldn't resist the urge to greet a potential new friend.

"so..he is a friend then?" Starfire asked suddenly

"Yes." Raven answered Starfire jumped for joy

"Welcome new friend!" She called out enthusiastically glomping Crow who was caught entirely by surprise

"Uh…hi." He managed to squeak out Starfire's grip around him was surprisingly strong…well to him anyway.

"Is she always like this?" Crow asked looking toward beast boy the only one who didn't seem to be giving him the evil eye besides Starfire and Raven.

"Yea…she's the cheerful one around here." BB answered

"great…" Crow said sarcastically just like Raven he wasn't much of one for the bright and cheery especially when it was excessive and Starfire was definitely excessive.

He had been ignoring her actually as she spout off numerous activities and Tamaranien greeting customs that had him at a loss.

"help?" Crow begged once more calling upon BB. Starfire was so caught up in planning things she wasn't even paying attention to what was being said.

" Hey Star He looks kinda tired I think we should let him rest and we can do all that tomarrow ok?" BB said and Starfire finally stopped talking

"Our friend is tired? Then let him rest! Oh! We must first give him a room! Robin where shall he stay?" Starfire asked

"I'll show him to his room in a sec Star"Robin replied.

Meanwhile Crow was gasping for air taking deeeep breaths and thanking Beast boy "Thanks..I owe ya one." He said when he finally caught his breath starfire really had put the squeeze on him though she hadn't realized it.

"Yea well…just don't go hurting Raven and we'll call it even." BB replied.

A short while later Robin was leading Crow down the halls toward his room.

"I'm guessing you chose to show me personally because you had something to say so say it." Crow spoke up after awhile of walking in silence.

"As a matter of fact I do. I don't like the idea of you staying here but since Raven's okay with it I'll let you. But the moment you do ANYTHING that seems suspicious you're out of here got it?" Robin said looking at him with a look that would've scared off most wild animals. But Crow just grinned

"You really like her don't you?" HE asked

Robin's entire tough guy act fell apart he hadn't expected that. "Wha? What're you talking about we're just friends."

"Yea…sure…you like her though haven't told her yet but you do just the same it's so blatantly obvious it's funny that she doesn't know." Crow said with a chuckle.

"gah…what does it matter? That's not the point, you're a threat to her maybe not right now but you will be and I WILL stop you when you become one." Robin said trying to get back his seriousness.

"of course you would…you'd protect her because you care…so…what's the deal with that Starfire girl?" Crow said changing the subject.

"Starfire?…She's… from another planet, literally. Couldn't really tell you why she's so cheery all the time she's just really…emotional Raven used to hate her. I think it was because she was essentially the opposite feeling emotions much more strongly while Raven had to bury hers away." Robin answered.

"I see…she's pretty cute if I thought I could deal with her being over emotional all the time I might be tempted to ask her out." Crow said more to himself than to Robin but with the intention of causing a reaction which he got almost immediately

"Wha? Come on! You can't be serious!" Robin half yelled

"What? You can't monopolize the girls ya know besides, I tried things with Raven before…she burned me every time." Crow replied

"hm" was all robin said to that. He wasn't going to let Crow back him into a corner so he trip over his own words. There wasn't really a good way to go from that anyway. Just what was he getting at? Robin wondered. As they came to the room

"well this is it." Robin said stopping and opening the door. Inside was nothing but a bed the room was totally barren

"what? no decorations?" Crow said in a smart tone

"Sorry you have to do all that yourself just like everyone else." Robin answered and left him there.

Crow turned around to look at the room again and noticed Raven was in the corner now.

"Tell me you didn't mean what you said about starfire I'd have to kill you if you did." Raven said but her tone was one that Crow knew all to well she only used it when she was joking.

"Course not. Though she is pretty…but not my type and she damn near crushed me." He replied with a groan remembering her grip.

"what IS she anyway?" He asked

"Tamaranian whatever that is…" Raven replied

"She's got strength as you already know she can fly and she can fire blasts of green energy from her hands." Raven informed him.

"Hm…so in short you're telling me not to mess with her correct?" He asked

"Exactly." She replied and crow chuckled.

"whatever you say Raven…hey wait…were you following us the whole time?" he asked

"Yup…heard the whole thing." She replied with almost a full smile.

"Oh boy…that robin guy really ain't gonna like me now" He said laughing.

"Don't worry about him.he's just cautious and a bit overprotective." She told him.

"A bit?" He said raising an eyebrow

"ok a lot." She admitted.

"that's better." Crow said producing a small cube of darkness from his pocket

"What's that?" Raven asked curious as always.

"My stuff…I packed it all in well…a cube." He replied

"That's…an awfully small cube what'd you pack? A toothpick?" She mused

"hah ha very funny…watch" He said and the cube expanded and eventually popped leaving a pile of belonging on the floor. Many times what should have been possible to place inside it.

"How did…" Raven began

"It was a mini dimension I created to hold my stuff when I dispelled it my stuff came tumbling out simple really." He explained.

"I see…" she said looking at the pile of things all mixed together clothes, personal stuff, but most of it looked like junk to her. Except a picture she spotted near the top it was nestled between a pair of boxers and a book but she saw it and grabbed it

"Crow…" She said holding the picture up

"Oh…eh...yea…I kept that…"He replied looking at the picture it was a picture of the two of them standing together in the front and their families in the back all together at a celebration. Possibly the only time they had all been together and gotten along definitely the only picture in which all of them were happy too.

"I…I can't believe you still have this…" she said staring at it

"of course I did it was the last time that all of us were together…much less all getting along. Our families didn't exactly see eye to eye a lot of the time…with our fathers being on opposite sides of the council." He said looking away.

"Yea…but…that day we did" She crossed her arms holding the picture to her chest remembering the day it had been her…correction _their_ birthday the last happy one she had it was after that they told her everything after that her birthday became an ominous day marking her coming another step closer…She closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at Crow.

"Can I…borrow this?" She asked

"uh…Sure.."He said hesitantly

"Thanks! I'll um…let you unpack now" She said inching past his stuff she stopped and gave him a kiss on the cheek "That's for still being my best friend." She said leaving.

Crow stood there for a bit and sighed. "yeah…after all this I better still be your best friend." He said to himself sitting down on the floor starting to pick through his stuff.

End Chapter 1

Well folks Crow has officially been introduced AND the plot thickens as more of the prophecy is revealed and causes a bit of…uncertainty to say the leastWill Robin and Crow actually be able to get along long enough to fight slade? Will raven really destroy the world? Or will crow kill her and stop it?


	2. Hurricane Marona

A/N: In response to Darth Shogun I CAN explain all that since i too was curious about that nad looked it up after I wrote this fic...but it's proly better if you just watch the show but if you really wanna know...WARNING PROBABLE SPOILER Trigon WILL Come but will be stopped after the world is turned to crap and everything reverts back to normal basically once he's gone though he's supposed to return... End Spoiler now with that out of the way...I'm updating earlier than planned just because this thing is slipping waaay too far down the list too quickly and if i don't update to bump it no one will ever read it...cept of course obviously mr. shogun here.

Chapter2- Hurricane Marona

The next couple of days were unusually quiet nothing happened that the Titans had to respond to so they had a while off and for once they realized how boring things were when there was no villain to fight. Beast boy got along fine playing video games with Cyborg and now Crow as well when he felt like it. Crow turned out to be pretty good at games and had even brought some of hi own with him and of course BB couldn't resist challenging him to a few games. Cyborg too was impressed with his skill. Starfire eventually got around to throwing that celebration party to welcome him although he had been against it. He soon learned that once starfire set her mind to do something it was going to happen whether you argued with her or not.

Raven actually was out and about more often chatting with Crow but besides that she was in her room as usual Robin was probably the only one doing something productive. Research and training he was looking into the symbol that had appeared on Slade's forehead as well as on Raven but the trail kept going cold every time he though he found something. When he got frustrated he'd just go and workout to relieve his stress it was also beginning to irk him how friendly everyone was with Crow knowing what they knew he still didn't quite trust him but then Robin didn't trust many people and the ones he did trust had to earn it over time.

Their peace wouldn't last too long however as coming into town was a storm…monsoon really and it had a name and a body too and it's name was Marona She was coasting in on a cloud creating her own air current as she went she was a young woman probably about 20 from appearance her hair was long falling down her back and it was silvery her eyes were a dull gray and her skin though white was well tanned. She wore a white sleeveless top that hugged tightly to her figure and stopped above her belly button and white shorts that came down only halfway down her thighs and her sights were dead set on titan tower. She had been concerned Crow would go to see his once dear friend but he could not afford such a visit should he lose his will to kill Raven by spending too much time with her.

A sudden storm broke out and power went out in the tower killing the game Cy and Crow were playing

"well guess that's that…"Crow said getting up.

"maan…where'd this storm come from anyway! I was winning!" Cyborg complained.

"tough break" Crow said going to the window, things didn't look good outside the storm was severe the he could see the water ebbing up into waves which were growing lightning was striking quite frequently and it didn't sound like it was ever missing anything either. It was soon apparent to him this was no natural storm and that only meant one thing. "Marona" he whispered to himself and turned from the window headed for his room. On his was there the symbols on the back of his cloak had begun to glow blue as well. "She's close…too close" he said turning a corner and bumping into Raven.

"Oh sorry…I uh didn't see you" they both said simultaneously. The both kind of stopped and stared for a moment because they had spoken at the same time an occurrence that had happened frequently in their childhood.

"guess after all this time we're still in sync." Crow finally said breaking the silence.

"Yeah…where were you going in such a hurry?" she asked

"Right..I was um headed to my room I've got to get out of here…Marona is coming." He told her.

"what? How do you know?" She asked

"Well one…the massive storm that appeared out of nowhere is pretty much one her trademarks it also means she's angry….second the symbol on the back of my cloak glows when she's near and right now if you hadn't noticed it's glow had gotten intense enough to illuminate the entire hallway…" He said as a bolt of lightning struck incredibly loudly somewhere nearby…

"and third I'm right behind you" Came a womans voice.

Crow gasped 'oh no…' he thought. He got up and turned around

"Uh…Hi marona…" he said timidly.

"Don't you start with me Crow why are you here? And talking with _her_?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"er…uhm..I…uh…" He tried said trying to find a way out of this.

Raven just kept quiet she was fairly sure Crow knew what to do but he was limited in options because she was sitting right in front of them.

"I'll just excuse myself" Raven said finally disappearing through the floor

"and now you've let her go" Marona stated plainly.

'thank goodness she left' Crow thought. "Marona why are YOU here?" he asked

"because YOU aren't doing your job. Crow the world is going to end and you're just going to let it happen?" she asked.

"no..I'll stop it..I'm just..not convinced she's a threat yet besides…it's more complicated than that." He said

"What do you mean?" she asked tilting her head to one side and crossing her arms

"Well whoever sent you to get m to do what I'm supposed to do has an opposite who has sent someone to do the same to Raven…I think they're the problem not her but either way If I fight with her they will stop me in addition Raven has many friends here who would fight to defend her." Crow said

"I see…those are complications…" She said considering

"then I will help you then" She said after a moment

"Wha! No! if you do that we'll have a massive battle that could destroy a lot in the process." Crow said desperately

"Then what do you suggest?" She asked

"Let me stay here I used to be her best friend after all and she has no idea that now I'm her worst enemy. I can stay close to her if she's a threat I'll kill her…quietly and when we're alone that way no one will be able to stop it. And there's no big fight it'll be quick and silent." He said walking towards her.

"hm…You know I don't like these stealthy plans of yours…but ok we don't have many other options." She said

"Good…now get out of here before someone else sees you." He said looking around.

"Fine…your always trying to get rid of me it seems." Marona said pouting a bit before disappearing into the wind.

Crow sighed. And relaxed he'd pulled it off he had convinced both sides of this to trust him now he just had to pick which one he was going to screw over.

Unbeknownst to him however Robin had heard everything he had come into the main room when the power went out and noticed Crow's odd behavior and decided to follow him. From behind the corner he was hidden behind Robin clenched his fist knowing now that Crow intended to play both sides until he had to pick one if Raven turned out to be a threat he had said he would kill her so right now must have been him assessing that threat. Still Robin had made up his mind to protect her even if this was her destiny or whatever he didn't really believe in all that stuff but Raven and Crow sure did so he'd have to work around that somehow. Now he snuck away to go tell Raven what he had overheard. As Crow continued on to his room.

Raven's meditation was interrupted by someone knocking at her door which of course turned out to be Robin.

"Yes?" She asked tilting her head slightly

"uh…" Robin hesitated he didn't know where to begin or if he should ask could he come in come to think of it He'd never been in her room before this was as far as he'd ever been.

"Raven…can I come in we need to talk." He finally said

Raven paused for a moment considering it normally she would have said no and told him to meet her somewhere else like the roof or something but of all the titans Robin probably deserved to be let in after what she'd put him through and he sounded like it was important so she agreed. "Alright…come in." She said after awhile and stepped out of the doorway.

For the first time Robin stepped foot in Raven's room as the door closed behind him he was amazed at how Dark she had managed to make it yet somehow you could still see as if something there allowed them to see in the dark or some invisible light source provided the very bare minimum of light.

"So what is it?" She asked leaning against the door.

"oh yea…it's about Crow…" He started

"Robin…" She interrupted "I know you have a problem with Crow but would you please leave him alone…He the oldest friend I have I trust him to do the right thing." She said

"But Raven I overheard him talking to some woman…he said he was going to follow through with the plan that he was going to get close to you using your old friendship and then when you're alone and no one will suspect it he's going to kill you!" Robin blurted out.

"what?" Raven said almost in shock she couldn't believe it did he really intend to betray her? Just as the rest of them had in the past…no he couldn't he had always been who she could count on back then…but it had been a long time who knows what changes might have taken place in him? She sighed looking down.

"Thank you Robin…you should go now…" She said quietly

"But…" Robin started wanting to say more but when she looked up at him he knew to leave. "Alright…I'm going…" walking toward the door she moved to allow him by he stopped in the doorway "but just so you know he also said he's not your best friend anymore he's your worst enemy" and with that Robin left.

'crow…was all that really just talk?' she wondered he knew he would have said something to Marona but that was a bit much…honestly she had rather not have found out what he had told her.there was one way to find out…and now she had to know so it was off to Crow's room

Crow was instead of meditating sitting crosslegged he had removed his earing as was holding it in his hand looking at it as if focused on something. Then the knock cam at the door. And he answered it.

"Oh…decided to knock this time huh?" he said jokingly stepping aside to let her in.

"you…never used to let anybody in your room…" Raven started in protest trying to justify why she had simply gone in last time.

"No one except you if you asked." He replied.

"She looked at him somewhat helplessly she didn't really have an argument after that.

"So what brings you here?" he asked

Raven stopped for a moment considering her words carefully looking around the room He had done a lot in a day and it looked a lot like her own aside from the occasional picture and some video games and shelf of movies from the looks of it all of them were animated she could only clearly see one "Akira" it looked like he had watched it recently.

Noting how he was beginning to look at her funny she spoke up

"Crow…there's been something bothering me…since you came here…" She started

"Oh? What's that?" he asked

"this.." She said quickly and Kissing him Crow was caught by surprise he kissed back for a moment but then broke the kiss..

"Raven…" he looked away from her.

"I…I've waited eternity for that Kiss…but…" he trailed off unable to say anything more.

Raven sighed he really didn't like her anymore in all the years she'd known him Crow had always liked her for him to push her away was unheard of.

"So…it's true then.." she half mumbled.

"What?" Crow was at a loss.

"You lied." She said plainly looking up at him

"Lied? About what?" Crow asked still confused

"about helping Robin heard what you told Marona and he told me so I decided to find out how you really felt about me by coming here…and now I know." She said looking down she couldn't bear looking at him it made her want to cry.

" Raven…" Crow's voice came out a whisper he didn't know what to say there he knew there was nothing he could say that would help

"Raven…The truth is Marona is…she's sort of my um…girlfriend…" He said finally.

"What?" Raven looked up at him

"well…she was anyway then she became who she is now…you see after you left my father decided I should marry someone and it just so happened it would also be the perfect thing to smooth over some political problems he'd been having so that's how I met her. I was enraged at first that he dared do such a thing without my consent I was of age to decide for myself still at the very least they put us together but I've put off marrying her…" as he was talking Raven could feel emotions welling up inside her one's she didn't like.

"I can also explain one other thing…the two of them Marona and Slade I know why they are so powerful." He said suddenly.

"Why?" Raven asked not looking at him.

"for two reasons firstly because their both dead which is why they're seemingly impervious to everything nothing harms them because they can't feel it." He said Raven gasped

"you're telling me Marona died?" she asked

"Yes…a escaped confict one who had issues with my father came after us I wasn't able to protect her…after that I found that he had also been to my house my parents were both dead as well…after that I pushed myself harder than ever to become as powerful as possible this earring as my reminder. The little ball is crimson because it's made from their blood." He told her.

Raven was silent

"Raven I'm not pushing you away because I don't care for you anymore I'm pushing you away because people get hurt around me and I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you…"

Raven believed him she still had a bond with crow and it was stronger than the one she had with Robin even after all this time and she could feel that he was sincere.

The storm outside seemed to pick up again and Marona made another appearance this time in his room. At first she didn't even see Raven and just went to Crow throwing her arms around him. "So love…have you killed her yet?" she asked

"uh…no..she's standing right there" Crow pointed out Marona looked and saw Raven who was now shrinking away into a corner.

"Oh dear…me and my big mouth…I suppose we have to do it now then?" Marona said with a smirk

"You..you knew she was there you just wanted to force this…" Crow said

"mmmaybe I did." She said laughing.

"Crow?" Raven spoke up cautiously.

"Raven…" Crow didn't want to say anything he didn't want to do anything but he had to do something.

"Just..do it…save the world." Raven said quietly.

"wha?" Crow said surprised.

"Ooh..see? she's even prepared to sacrifice herself like the good martyr she is. No do your job." Marona boomed.

"Marona…it's a shame you've become such a bitch." Crow said

"What?" Marona was in shock she pulled away from him

"you used to be such a nice person…I really was starting to like you back then…but now…you're just…evil to hell with the world I'm saving Raven." Crow said Raven looked up at him confused

"Raven! RUN!" he yelled she didn't need to be told twice she got up and ran for it

"oh dear..I was afraid of this…shes gone and corrupted you…now you're no better than she is…no matter you'll both rot in hell together!" Marona yelled a fierce wind picking up shattering his window and blowing him back against the wall.

"you'll be the one rotting in hell you evil sadistic bitch!" Crow Yelled summoning up his power the darkness enveloping the room hushed everything to a quiet and a moment later a blast sent Marona flying out the window she caught herself and hover on the wind.

"you'll pay for this crow! You Will ALL pay!" She screamed at him she was actually more infuriated that he had chosen another woman over her than at the fact he had betrayed his purpose. As she prepared another attack Crow braced himself…

Raven was running hard down the halls thankfully she wasn't being followed she guessed Crow was buying her time. She found Cyborg first he was in the living room still since power was down he really didn't have anything to do but sit and stare at nothing he couldn't even recharge.

"Cyborg!" Raven shouted glad to see him

"Yea? What is it?" He turned around and saw the look on her face and that she was panting obviously from having run there. "What happened?" He asked concerned

She panted…"Crow…he's…" Cyborg jumped up

"What'd he do! Did he try to hurt you!" He asked

"No! He's saving me…" she paused to take a breath "but…he needs help that Marona girl…she's here! and she is not happy" Raven finally got out.

"well where is he?" Cyborg asked

"His room she came in through the window…be careful according to him this entire storm is her doing no telling what else she can do." Raven warned him

"Alright I'll go help him you find the others" Cyborg told her and ran off.

Raven was searching for Robin but he wasn't in his room So she went for Starfire and Beast boy Starfire was eager to go help Crow and flew off in a hurry Beast boy however was also nowhere to be found.

"Where could they be?" Raven wondered aloud

"Oh but they're right here" Came a voice Raven knew all to well she whirled around to see him holding both Robin and Beastboy in either hand uncouncious

"Slade" She said with venom in her voice

"Raven you look stressed becareful you never know what'll be that last stretch before you snap" He said tossing the two aside.

Raven was growing angry but she didn't have time to deal with him.

"What do you want Slade?" She said as calmly as possible

"I want you to destroy the world." He said simply and she just stared at him

"Oh you meant besides that…I know what's going on right now that blasted woman is attacking I can't have you getting hurt so call this protecting my interests" He said crossing his arms.

"You know you can't stop me from going." She said

"I won't have to if you want to protect your friends you'll do exactly as I say or something… bad might happen to them." He said with a chuckle

"grr.." Raven wasn't about to let Robin or beast boy get hurt but Crow was fighting for his life right now to protect her she sighed Starfire and Cyborg would just have to do the job.

Crow was hovering outside a few feet from Marona when Cyborg and Starfire arrived

"Yo! Raven told us what happened! We're here to back you up" Cyborg yelled as Starfire lifted him and took flight he had his sonic cannon at the ready.

Crow grinned "Thanks you guys, Well marona? Looks like the odds are in my favor now." He said crossing his arms giving her a smug look.

"pft do not think they will make such a difference Crow they are insignificant and cannot help you." Marona replied sending blades of wind at them. But Crow put up a shield protecting them at the very last second.

"that was…close was it not?" Starfire said looking down at Cyborg.

"Yea…too close." He agreed.

"I'll Do the defending you do the attacking" Crow told them

"Sounds like a plan." Cyborg said "Let's go Star!"

Star fire took off as Cyborg blasted at Marona she was able to defend fairly well since he cannon was based on sound she only had to bend the wind in certain ways and it bounced off being harmlessly redirected.

She countered by creating a tornado which Crow dispersed with an attack of his own. Marona hovered there without a care in the world surrounded by her Cyclone shield which was protecting her from Cyborgs blasts.

"GR…I'm not doing a Dang thang! Star it's up to you" He told her

"understood" She replied and began using her rarely used eye beams the first shot caught Marona completely off guard her Cyclone wasn't configured properly to defend against it and it penetrated not only hitting her but knocking her out of the cyclone at which point Crow found a Sizable rock to hit her with sending her and the rock sailing into the water at first they skipped a couple times before sinking in.

"Man…was that nessisary?" Cyborg asked him

"Actually it probably wasn't enough.." Crow replied.

"Not enough! What does it take to put her down?" Cyborg asked flailing his arms

"I dunno I never managed to do it I know she's not finished though can't be she's already dead…" Crow said

"Already what! Okay you got some explainin to do"Cyborg said

"Yes I would like to be informed as well" Starfire chimed in.

"I'll explain later when we're all together that way everyone will be filled in and I don't have to repeat it." Crow said

"Fine…lets go get them while we've got a break Cyborg said.

"Yea I agree no telling when she'll pop back up or what with…" Crow said as they flew in through the hole Marona had created.

"where the heck are they anyway? Raven was supposed to goin to get them…"Cyborg said the first to start walking but Crow stopped him putting a hand on his should

"Wait…Something…is off…" Crow stated

"What makes you say that?" Cyborg asked

"Oh just a feeling…" Crow said noticing that his cloak, which had previously been giving off a blue glow, was now giving off a red one.

"Very Good…Titans Attack!" Slade commanded and Raven Robin and Beastboy appeared from the darkness of the hall each branded with his symbol on their foreheads

"Oh no…." was all Crow could say.

End Chapter 2

Well well evil titans who saw that one coming? I think you'll be surprised how things go from here.


	3. Into the mind of an idiot

Crow

Chapter3- into the mind of an idiot.

(A/N:Brace yourselves…it's a loooong chapter)

Raven, Robin, and Beast boy each stood with malice in their eyes if you could still call them that their eyes had become darkened like pure darkness had possessed them. They each had a bit of a dark aura as the symbols on their heads glowed intensely.

"aw man we can't fight them!" Cyborg said throwing his hands up in defeat "I don't get it, it's quiet for awhile then BOOM. It's one thing after another around here" He said

"Slade…that is your name correct?" Crow spoke up

"Yes that would be me I see my reputation precedes me." Slade replied

"by far…how is it you managed to bring all three of them under your control? I would think if it were that simple you would have done so to begin with so what was the catch?" Crow asked

"How good of you to notice if I were still in my past life you would be a prime candidate to be my apprentice…the truth is they had to agree." Slade told him

"what? There's no way……I see…you used the others to force them each into it." Crow said after a moment.

"You really are something sharper than Robin even I see why you were the one chosen to destroy Raven." Slade said gently brushing a lock of Ravens hair she didn't move.

Crow was disgusted "You sick…Don't touch her…." He said trying to hide the seething hate in his voice.

"or what?" Slade asked "You'll get angry? I like angry, angry is good…yes very good." Slade said

Crow was about to leap at slade when Starfire grabbed him and pulled him back just in time to. Robin's sneak attack just missed him Robins stave clanged against the floor loudly.

"Thanks Starfire…he tried to take my head off." Crow said now watching the three titans closely.

"Children…Destroy them" Slade commanded.

"Yes master slade" the all said in unison.

"aw man you gotta be kidding me!" Cyborg readied his sonic cannon be he didn't want to actually use it.

Raven suddenly Raised her arms and Darkness enveloped them after that a snarl was heard obviously beast boy having transforming into something. Crow heard Cyborg's cannon go off but he didn't see any light from it a moment later he found himself ducking Robins stave only to be mauled by beast boy who was in the form of a lion. He tumbled through and kicked BB in the stomach using his foot to throw him off. When he stood they were no where in sight it was a perfectly synched attack a thing only something inhuman could achieve.

Somewhere he heard starfire scream and he figured out their pattern they were attacking each of them one at a time and moving to the next one while the last was left bewildered.

"Enough!" Crow yelled emiting his own power canceling out Raven's.

Now he could see Cyborg was down and Starfire was hovering close to the ceiling actually pressed to it was more like it. Raven lowered her arms and began attacking more conventionally random objects began flying around at all three of them as Cyborg tried to get up.

Crow blocked as many as he could but it was too much with Robin and BB each attacking someone he couldn't protect everyone.

"Fall back!" He finally called out

"What! Fall back where!" Cyborg wondered but before he had an answer Starfire had grabbed him up and they were flying out with Crow. Raven and beast boy started to give pursuit but slade stopped them

"No need…they'll be back. Now come." He told them. They gave a nod and followed him.

Starfire Crow and Cyborg set down on the edge of the city limits.

"what was that back there?" Cyborg asked

"A very powerful form of mindcontrol…the victims must first submit to the will of whoever will control them then darkness enters them forming a being of about as close a thing to pure evil as can exist on this plane…every negative thought, action, feeling…everything it all it melded together to form a person with no will but to inflict harm and misery and they are at the total disposal of their controller."Crow answered.

"So you have seen this before?" Starfire asked hopeful he would know how to fix it.

"No…not personally I've only read about it. I never thought I'd actually meet someone who knew how to do it much less actual victims…" Crow said looking down he didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face.

"oh…I see…" Starfire said quietly things looked very grim indeed.

"I told you you'd pay." Came a familiar voice.

Crow closed his eyes and almost cringed. "Marona…" he said turning to face her.

"now you're precious raven has gone and flown away never to return and the world will suffer and it's all your fault Crow." She told him.

"Shut up! I had to do what was right…right for me…for once." Crow said

"you really hurt me you know…" marona said walking up to him.

"what're you talking about? You can't even be hurt" Crow replied

"I'm not talking about the fight…I meant what you said…" She said softly she was inches from him now.

"ohthat…about that..I" he started but she simply kissed him

"Apology accepted now lets go do what we came here to do okay?" She pleaded.

Starfire stepped in between them "Now wait just a minute!" she started

"Oh dear…another one Crow? You really aren't the faithful type are you?" Marona said with a chuckle

Starfire's face went red "I uh…er.. I am not his.." she tried to explain but Crow did it for her.

"Starfire is just a friend…jealous marona? She is pretty." He said toying with her.

"oooh! You! That's it I'm leaving!" Marona finally said and was gone flying on a cloud.

"Finally…." Crow said sitting on a rock. Starfire was still blushing only now it was because he had said she was pretty.

"Was that smart? I mean couldn't she have helped in at least getting out friends back?" Cyborg asked

"Yes it was smart first because Marona only cares about killing raven nothing more if you want your friends back badly enough to Sacrifice raven then go ahead and go after her. If you want ALL of them back we have to do it ourselves." Crow answered.

Cyborg sighed "Man and once again we've been kicked out of OUR tower." He said laying back if he had hais he'd probably have been tearing it out in frustration right now.

Suddenly crow had an idea. "I might know of a way to get them back…but we'll have to capture them one at a time." He said.

"one at a time?" cyborg repeated questioningly.

"Yes…I'll have to go into their minds…" Crow said

"That…will be dangerous will it not?" Starfire asked having finally stopped blushing.

Crow gave a nod "Extremely…I will have to isolate them from the demons that occupy their bodies and destroy the darkness within…if I could do that they should be freed however it's a neigh impossible task since Going inside their mind means being on their turf entirely it'd be being an ant trying to rebel against God." He said

"Damn…some odds…" Cyborg said

"Yea…but it's all we got unless you wanna sit here and think while Slade corrupts them further if we take too long they might be irredeemable." Crow said

"Alright…so who's first?" Cyborg asked

"I want to say lets get Raven first but I know better she's by far the most dangerous of the three of them and going inside her mind….is even more dangerous even when she's in control…" Crow said

"Tell me about it I've been in there once…it wasn't pretty." Cyborg replied remembering the time he and Beast Boy had found her mirror.

"ah..so you must've messed with her mirror too then…" Crow said with a laugh.

"that was some trip man.." Cyborg said

"Did you find her hate for her father?" Crow asked

"Yea…we fought it" me BB and all of her personalities…" Cyborg replied.

"so it's still as strong as ever…yes we'll definitely leave her for last I don't know how I stand against that thing anymore…hell I don't even know how I beat it last time…oh wait I didn't…she wound up finding me and kicking me out of her head." He recalled

"So who DO we get first?" Cyborg asked

"Beast boy. He's by far the simplest minded of the three he shouldn't be too difficult to free I doubt he has a lot of dark thoughts or emotions attached to things to bind him anyway it might even be possible to break him out of it simply through talking to him enough." Crow said

"Hm…we did break him out of mad mod's hynpnosis with just a burp." Cyborg said

Crow frowned "A burp?" He asked with a arched brow

"Please…Do not ask" Starfire interrupted.

Cyborg whispered to crow "she just doesn't want you to know because she was the one who did the burping."

Crow chuckled. "why should she care?" he asked in as low atone

"because she likes you man it's just like it was when she first met Aqua lad…Her and Raven we're all swooning over him and Robin and Beast boy were jealous out of their minds." Cyborg told him.

"I see… Well off to get Beast boy" Crow said returning to his normal tone.

"but how will we do that? They are together are they not? Isolating one will not be easy." Starfire said.

"True…but I'm hoping Slade will have taken control of all three of them for a reason if he has a purpose in it he'll probably have sent them each on a task by now and we can get them that way." Crow told them.

"that's a good point..if all he needed was Raven then we should be apocalypse city by now." Cyborg said seeing Crows reasoning.

"Exactly something still has to happen…something we don't know about we need to figure it out whatever it is it's what will make Raven destroy everything.

"What if.." Starfire stared

"What?" Crow asked turning to her

"What if the thing that has to happen…has to do with you? What if it's because you do not survive trying to free them?" She asked.

"that's a good point…I didn't think of that…but we can't do nothing…Yet somehow I get the feeling nothing is exactly what we should do for awhile…yea…let's just watch the tower for a bit.." he said as if on cue Beast boy in the form of a pterodactyl came screeching off the roof headed into the city.

"Should we go after him?" Cyborg asked

"definitely, he's alone and he's the easiest to capture...but I'll take him myself you two stay here. Watch for the others to leave it might turn out we only have a small window before the other join him." Crow said

"and what do we do if we see them? We don't have anyway to keep in touch." Cyborg pointed out.

"don't you have communicators?" Crow asked

"Well..yea but.." Cyborg started

"Here take mine" Starfire said handing it to him.

"Thanks, now if something happens just call me." Crow said darkness enveloping him and a moment later he was literally in the form of a Crow. Flying off into the city.

"I didn't know he could do that, did you know he could do that!" Cyborg asked turning to Starfire.

"No of course not" Starfire answered equally in awe.

30 minutes later Crow had tracked beast boy to an antique shop he was now in the form of a wolf and was sniffing for something. He paused when he picked up Crows scent. Then snarled.

"well? Come on have at it mutt." Crow taunted BB leapt at him recklessly and was caught in an orb of Dark magic just as had happened when Crow first arrived. Beast boy was seemingly baffled by this struggling with the air around him as he tried to escape Crow simply flew back keeping him in tow.

"I've got him" Crow said into the communicator.

"Good. No sign of anything here yet…scratch that Raven just took off. You better hurry." Cyborg replied

Crow cursed he wasn't ready for Raven to make an appearance yet. But like It or not within a few minutes he saw the familiar form flying overhead he ducked into an ally and intensified the dark magic ball around beast Boy so he couldn't be heard he also threw up a wall of illusion so it was as if they weren't even there should she look down. He stared up at her flying past and noticed something He hair…it was long like it had grown inches in only a few minutes. Her dark aura had intensified too. It seemed Ironic that he knew their powers came from the darkness yet here he was fighting against it. Once she had passed he took flight again cautiously it seemed she had gone to see what was taking beastboy so long. He hurridly flew back to Cyborg and Starfire.

"we're going to need some cover…I'll be defenseless while I'm in his mind and He'll probably make a lot of noise and besides that I'd rather not be in the open when Raven heads back to the tower and tells them Beast boy is missing." Crow told them

"right but…there isn't really anything we can use except the sewers…" Cyborg said

"well we'll use those then." Crow told him

"alright there's a drainage pipe near here." Cyborg said leading the way

They went into the pipe a good ways until they reached a junction and crow set up there Cyborg and Starfire held beast boy while crow placed his hands on beast boy's head he closed his eyes and a moment later he was in. It was a rather empty place really there wasn't much to beast boy however what there was was totally jumbled it was a disarray that made no sense random useless knowledge mixed in with facts that might have mattered tv junk mixed with actual life it was like he didn't bother trying to separate the two or rather lived in both the real world and had many…many fantasy worlds.

Crow found himself wandering aimlessly despite the fact that it was jumbled there was a lot of empty space. If someone else was around he would have bet he could get an echo in there. One thing bothered him though…there was no sign of the darkness he had expected. He had expected to be attacked almost immediately upon entering but it seemed that it was content to simply let him wander. He went through memories, most of which were related to Television somehow, Feelings, and even stumbled upon thoughts of Beast boy's secret crushes turned out he liked BOTH Starfire and Raven though it seemed he knew he was too goofy for Raven and Starfire never thought more of him than a friend in his mind she might as well have been labeled Robin's until the Aqualad thing... Eventually He found himself going through TV shows beast boy had seen and in some cases movies too.

"Man this is one shallow guy…doesn't he have a life outside of tv?" Crow wondered aloud and as he had thought he DID get an echo but only TV seemed to echo.

Somewhere he heard something growl. "bout time..." he thought but what came down was less than menacing. It was a giant tv. Granted it had a mouth where the screen was but it was still a tv.

"You dare insult the almighty TV!" It roared

"yea I do TV is only good in moderation but this guy…he's got issues." Crow said looking around. There had to be at least 200 TV shows playing in Beast boys head at the same time.

"How dare you! All my life all I've heard is how 'ooh TV will rot your brain' 'TV is a brainwasher' 'TV this TV that I'm tired of being made fun of about TV!" It screamed suddenly crow understood this was Beast boys inner demon his resentment toward others came from people making fun of him for watching too much TV. But being a nice guy he never let it show how much it bothered him when they did it.

"Now I'll show you! The power of Television!" It yelled and from it's mouth came three creatures One a swamp monster another a odd humanoid being in a black trench coat. The last was someone in all black carrying a blade of light.

"meet the creature from the lake, the stranger, and Dark helmet from war of the planets!" He yelled. The trio of baddies made came at Crow but he ignored them they weren't his problem he flew over them and instead of throwing something as raven usually did he manifested his power in a different way he formed a whip that was set to lash right through the creature of the lake and through the TV itself. The creature was cut in two and the TV soon was as well. When it was destroyed the other two villains disappeared in the TV's place was a cage inside was Beast boy in some form or another… something was off this beast boy was but a child. Still Crow freed him just the same.

"Thanks..uh guy…I dunno where you came from or how you got here…but you better go back there's worse things in here than that" the child warned.

"that's why I'm here…to get rid of them…all of them" Crow told him

"Really? Then you'll meet nobody next…" The boy said

"nobody? but…" Crow started

"No…nobody is his name." The boy explained having expected Crow to be confused

"I see…you're awful direct and to the point for a kid…" Crow pointed out.

"yea well…I'm one kid that doesn't have time for games and junk my parents have better things for me to do." The boy answered.

"I see…" Crow understood beast boy a little better now he was living his childhood now since when he was a child he had to be serious he probably didn't have many friends so he fled to TV which would explain why it was so dear to him.

"well good luck…I've got to get back to my studies" the boy said and left.

Crow continued on he was beginning to understand how Beast boy's mind worked it shifted to something different every so often and he was learning the pattern it wasn't long until he came to a darkened path. It was then Crow began to wonder what sort of being nobody was. And if it was a literal name in which case the darkness in front of him could have then the 'nobody' he was looking for he also wondered what in beast boy's life could have spawned such a thing. He proceeded into the darkened path and shortly after found what looked to be a shadow but he saw no body projecting it. Suddenly it clicked 'nobody'

"so you are no body" Crow said the shadow rose and grew as if shocked to be recognized

"you…you can see me! You noticed me? Wow…no one ever pays attention to me…till they need me to do something…so what do you want?" the shadow asked

"Simple I need beast boy to be in control of his body again that means you've got to go." Crow said

"I knew it! Nobody wants to be my friend! It's always get out of my way let so and so do it let someone else do everything! If I'm so unnecessary then why the hell do they keep me around! No one would even notice if I left…" the shadow seemed to be more concerned with it's own self pity than it was with Crow. He almost pitied it but he had to remember it wasn't really alive it was just a manifestation of beast boy's emotions

"I'm sorry…really I am But you are a problem a very large one at that." Crow said the Shadow seemed to stop rambling

"I'll show you a problem!" It expanded all that was left was darkness Crow was assailed by a chilling feeling a feeling of hopelessness, despair, depression…it all hit him at once

"so…that's how you feel…but let me show you how I feel!" Crow yelled his own darkness taking over that of the shadows it wasn't very powerful Crow hadn't given in to the emotions that had assailed him so the shadow held no power over him. But as he began to over take it something happened he didn't expect. Raven appeared.

"R…Raven!" He called out to her. But she looked right through him.walked right by him and whispered as she passed "Just die already…you worthless traitor."

"What…but…I…" Crow was losing it and the shadow's darkness, which was actually more of a gray, took over once more now the feelings were intensified

"Raven……no…it can't be…That wasn't her it couldn't' have been the real Raven wouldn't have said that." Crow said to himself regaining some strength but the seed of doubt had been planted. And that was all nobody needed.

"you see even your closet friend turns on you. Face it you're nobody just like me. In fact you are me." It told him

"no…it can't be I can't be I won't be…" But crow was beginning to fade dissapear into the gray form.

"come on be a good boy and become part of me…" It called

"NO! I'll never be part of you! I have to save Raven first!" He screamed bursting with power momentarily but once more Raven appeared.

"Save me? You can't even save yourself you loser…hanging on to me all these years how sad even when you had a girlfriend you still chose me you're pathetic. Go to hell where you belong" She told him.

Though he knew it wasn't Raven her words were weighing on him heavily it was true he had hung on to her…there had been many other girls he could have been with but he had been fixated on her…why? Was it because she up and left without a word to anybody? Yea probably…still that wasn't really an excuse.

He was fading quickly now his lower body had disappeared and now his torso was going.

He had to do something. He closed his eyes.

"Yes give in…there's nothing we can do we're doomed to suffer and die." Nobody said

suddenly Crow opened his eyes "I don't care."

"What?"

"I…Don't…CARE" Crow yelled

"It doesn't matter if I can't save myself It doesn't matter what happened in the past and It damn sure doesn't matter why I did what I did all that matters Is what I'm going to do now and that's Save her and her friends!" Crow said his strength returned to him and his body reformed

"NO! you can't be doing this how're you…" Nobody didn't get to say or so anything more Crow had enough.

"YOU go to hell and I'll see you when I get there. By the way…tell Satan I say hi" Crow said unleashing a flock of darkened crows they pecked at the shadowy form of nobody devouring him leaving nothing behind. He may have been something like a shadow but he was still a physical being.

Crow sighed a sigh of relief "That was too close…wait…why am I still here? Is there another one?" He wondered aloud. His answer came soon enough when one of the shifts brought about a bright green path it was littered with signs labeled "FREAK" this one was easy enough to figure out. "beast boy's other torment…being green and turning into animals couldn't have been easy during his childhood…nobody was the flipside once he found somewhere he was accepted he was ignored which is probably where TV came from…man he really IS screwed up." Crow said to himself as he walked the path.

The signs became more varied as he went on with every insult imaginable written on them some were even as vulgar as to venture into his sex life some depicted beastality some simply inferred it. 'whatever is at the end of this path…is not gonna be pretty…' crow thought.

He was right at the end was a hulking beast it had horns like a bull's the face of a lion the body of a bird and arms and legs like a tiger's it was also spotted like a cheetah or Jaguar.

"so you must be the last one…" Crow said eyeing the monstrosity.

It didn't speak but simply roared and charged him.

Crow was actually glad it was a brute force thing those he could deal with easy enough. He leapt to the side allowing it to pass by him but now a previously unseen feature lashed out at him, it's tail was a snake Crow managed to avoid being fully bitten but he had been scratched sure enough.

"Vile creature I will put you to rest now and end you're suffering" He said forming the whip once more lashing it but it didn't fall apart it actually healed some of the wounds.

"What the?" Crow said as it charged again this time he went to his usual method of dealing with beast boy surrounding it in a ball and lifting it it was trapped for awhile but somehow it actually managed to break free.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Crow said

"I Make the rules here" It finally spoke

"crud…" Crow said knowing he was in trouble now it knew how to make the rules and that it could change them that meant he was seriously in trouble if it got creative. He had to kill it…quickly

The tail of the beast grew and became an Anaconda sized snake but it had venom dripping from it's fangs. Suddenly Crow had an idea as it lashed out at him he ran under it's massive body as it chased him he leapt over the actual beast and the snake wound up biting into it.

The venom acted quickly and the beast was soon dead. It dissolved and left behind the beast boy he knew. When he woke up Crow was back in his body.

"Thank goodness that was the last one…" Crow said. Removing his hands from beastboy.

"Dude…what happened…?" Beast boy asked with a groan his head felt as if it had been hit by a ton of bricks, then a Mack truck, then a stampede decided to run over it.

"welcome back BB" Cyborg said releasing him.

"Friend! You have returned to normal!" Star fire said clasping her hands

"ow…star…down a few notches please…" BB said holding his head. The mark had faded leaving not a trace his eyes had gone back to normal too the only reminder that it had actually happened was the suit Slade had given him.

"You were under a form a mind control basically Slade put a spell on you." Crow explained

"huh?…wait…I remember th three of us…we were…aw man…"Beast boy leaned against a pipe.

"It's alright you don't have to explain anything We're going to get Raven and Robin back…" Cyborg said.

"yea…though it won't be easy…I had a much more difficult time than I expected inside your head BB you're a much more complicated person than I gave you credit for." Crow said.

"DUDE You went inside my head!" Beast boy blurted out.

"Yea…sorry it's not like we could ask for permission though and it was the only way to get you back to normal." Crow answered

"It's alright man…just…don't tell anybody what you saw in there ok?" Beast boy pleaeded

"Of course…It's your head I've no right to go telling everybody what's in there that's one of the basic laws back home." Crow told him

Beast boy relaxed "That's good…very good."

"though just to let you know I saw A LOT in there I probably know more about you than your friends do now." Crow said. Starting off somewhere

"uh..hey! dude! Not cool! You said you went in there to get rid of the spell or whatever not look around!" beast boy said

"Yeah well it didn't wanna come out and fight I had to figure out what made you tick before I could get the first one to appear once that was taken care of though it was straight forward mostly." Crow explained

"hey where you goin?" Cyborg asked

"anywhere but here…it reeks" Crow said

"but you guys made a ton of noise I wouldn't recommend going back the way we came." Cyborg told him.

Crow stopped "Good idea…got a map?" He asked

"Got a map? Of course I got a map who does he think I am I'm Cyborg man…I got Everything." He mumbled to himself looking at the display on his arm.

"looks like if we follow that tunnel there down four junctions and turn right we'll come out on the opposite side of the river. There's bit of a incline after the second junction though I guess they run it under the bridge." Cyborg said pointing to the tunnel he was talking about.

"alright people let's get moving" Crow said.

"Hey when did you become leader?" Beast boy asked

"Since he's the one with all the answersand probably the most powerful one here and besides that Starfire's got a crush on him so why not? It's just like having robin..cept he's got power" Cyborg said.

Starfire was quick to react to that " I do not have the crush on Crow he is a good friend he brought back beast boy and soon we shall have Robin back as well." She said.

" Aha! So you admit Robin is the only man for you!" Beast boy said grinning.

"No I didn't say…I mean.." She stammered confused as to what it is she really even meant to say.

"guys just leave her alone will ya? She probably doesn't even know what a Crush is." Crow spoke up interrupting them all.

Starfire exhaled she was relieved someone had taken her side.

"You are correct Crow I do not know what this…crush as you call it is." She stated

"it's not a literal term which is probably why you can't seem to understand it in the sense they're using it it's slang really…meaning you like someone or have strong feelings for them in a romantic sort of way." He explained.

"OH! Oh my…" Starfire said she was shocked and at a loss for what to say.

"i.." she stared

"Don't say anything…you'll only give them more to work with." Crow said cutting her off.

"But..on Tamaran when one is confronted about your feelings for someone it is customary to be honest and explain thoroughly." She said

"Do what you want to" crow replied

"Yeah star we'd sure like to know." Beast boy chimed in

"Well to begin I should start by saying I noticed YOU beast boy have had the crush on me as well as Raven." She started

"Gah! I uh…Hey! This ain't about me it's about you!" Beast boy retorted Crow was laughing hard because he knew the truth behind that having been in beast boys mind only a little while ago.

"whoo hoo she got you BB." Cyborg said

"As for myself…I have had the crush several times on this planet…Robin is one I had it for Aqua lad..but that passed and you are Correct Crow I do have the crush on Crow." She said plainly.

"Wow..she admitted it…"Beast boy said

"Yea..really takes the fun out of bothering her about it doesn't it?" Cyborg said

"and I'll beat that it why it's customary to be honest on her planet." Crow said.

"indeed it is Crow" Starfire answered

"ok…but she only did half of it." Beast boy said after awhile and he thought about it.

"oh come on you aren't really going to make her explain why for all of them are you?" Cyborg asked

"Well no…I guess not" Beast boy said lowering his head.

"I think he just wants to know why he didn't make the cut…"Crow said

"just don't say it's because he's green…" He thought.

"I am sorry I do not share your feelings beast boy it's just you are like my friends back home…so I never really thought that way of you." She explained.

They were only passing the second junction now and just getting to the incline and beast boy still had tons of questions.

"okay…So about Robin…" BB started

"Robin is…nice understanding and takes good care of his friends…" Starfire said

"and I'll never forget how mad you got when Killer moth forced him to go on that date…" Beast boy said laughing.

Starfire fumed "That was a totally uncalled for action he had no right to make Robin do that! And she was so…evil. Robin was much too good for her." Starfire said

Cyborg and Crow were walking ahead silently neither of them really wanted to talk on the subject of relationships especially not now but it seemed to Crow that Starfire and Beast boy needed to talk to keep themselves from becoming too depressed. They continued on the subject of Robin until about halfway under the bridge when the third junction came into sight Beast Boy finally got around to Aqua Lad

"So that brings us to…Aqua lad" Beast boy said

"He was, as you say on this planet, cute, strong, and he liked animals…who could resist? Even Raven liked him." Star fire told him

"DUDE! I like animals! I AM an animal!" Beast boy said flailing his arms before turning into various animals normally associated with cute such as Kittens, Puppies, Rabbits, etc.

Starfire giggled "Yes but you are…as they say a goof ball." She said laughing.

"Hey what's wrong with that as long as I'm actually funny?" He asked returning to his normal form

"Nothing just it's more of a friend quality than a shnorkle bhorf quality" She told him.

Now Crow and Cyborg had been trying their hardest to stay out of this conversation but THAT got their attention

"Say what?" Cyborg asked

"A shnorkle bhorf" she repeated

Beast boy was rolling with laughter "DUDE that sounds vaguely like Snuggle whore!" He said laughing harder. Even Crow had to laugh at that one Cyborg was about as gone as beast boy Starfire stood there not amused. She stomped off ahead only calling back "On your planet it's called a Boyfreind!" she hadn't thought of the word at first so she had used the tamaranien word for it and was regretting it.

"Hey I think you made her mad…and you wonder why she doesn't like you it's probably because you make to many jokes about her." Crow said being the first to recover from the laughing fit.

BB got up fortunately it had been a fairly wide walkway so he hadn't landed in any sludge brushed himself off and went after Starfire and since there was no point lagging behind Cyborg and Crow went too. She wasn't hard to catch she had only gone as far as the slope down toward the third junction. Granted it was a long run but at least they didn't have to wonder where she went in a possible maze of tunnels.

When they caught up Beast boy was already apologizing

"I'm sorry Star really I didn't mean to make you mad…it was just…funny…and you know I couldn't ignore a good joke." He said

"You are...forgiven" she said after a minute

"great now we can get to Crow!" BB said Crow cringed he was gonna suffer for this one.

And he knew it fortunately for him they were at the third junction which meant only one to go before they were out

Starfire froze up she didn't want to talk about Crow seeing as he was standing not even 5 feet away.

"Can we…talk about him later?" She asked

" ooh no we went through everybody else now it's his turn come on it's not like you're gonna have a while lot to say he just got here yesterday!" BB said

Starfire just looked down

"Oooh You DO have a lot to say! Wow I've got to know now." Beast boy said he was enjoying this and he could see Crow starting to squirm a little he was unfomfortable about the fact HE was the subject now.

Starfire sighed "alright…Crow is…intelligent shown by his ability to figure things out and come up with plans quickly, he is strong you can look at him and see that he's cute he has a sense of humor that is…quirky but not so obtrusive as to hurt anyone's feelings, He is also kind and generous shown by the fact he is still here helping us after being threatened and nearly thrown into the street. Not only has he saved our lives but he's rescued you and we are eventually going to rescue our remaining two friends as well..and he is a good friend to raven which proves he can be trusted since Raven doesn't have many friends…before yesterday I didn't think she had any besides us." Starfire said quickly

"whoa…way more than I expected" Beast boy said mouth hanging open.

"Dude..did you hear that!" BB asked Crow

"yea..I heard..starfire made me sound like a really great guy. But I think she exaggerated a little and also left out the reasons why for everything…" Crow replied

"But still…why don't you just ask her out I mean you're both right here she said she liked you what's the problem?" Beast boy asked

"Hey look it's the final junction Crow pointed out dodging the question.

"dang…you're off the hook for now but we'll get back to this later!" Beast boy said

Starfire wanted to shrink away into a tiny, tiny mouse hole…

They followed the last bit of pipe in silence for fear of somehow being heard or walking into a trap but they came out on the other side of the River as planned however it had been a long walk much longer than they had anticipated the sun was setting now.

"Great…guess we better find somewhere to put up for the night…" Cyborg said

"DUDE I am NOT sleeping in a sewer." Beastboy said.

"we won't have to…I DO have money…" Crow said.

"You what! Why didn't you say so earlier?" Cyborg asked

"Because it wasn't necessary to mention it and no one asked

"So how much you got?" Beast boy asked

"oh…all the inheritance from my parents…though I'm only carrying a small portion on me." Crow answered

"whoa…you must be rich then" Beast boy said

"I suppose you could say that…my father was one of the leading men in government back home." He told them

"So where shall we stay?" Starfire asked

"the nearest hotel…I doubt they'd actually look for us in one." Crow stated looking to Cyborg expecting to hear a destination

"looks like nearest hotel is still a good walk… and the very closest one is a pretty classy joint we might wanna pass it up for something a little lower profile." Cyborg said.

"I agree…besides we can't walk into a place like that smelling like we do." Crow pointed out.

"Yea…we'd get tossed out on our buns before we even got to show them our money" beast boy said sniffing himself and realizing just how bad he reeked of Sewer.

"so it's settled then…second closest place…" Crow said awaiting Cyborgs answer

"it's a middle class place not as casual as I would like but it'll have to do the only really cheap joints are on the opposite side of town." Cyborg said

Crow gave a nod "that'll have to do then…we can't go too far from the Tower if we want to be able to spot them when they leave."

"Um…dudes…how do we even know they're still IN the tower? We've been walking through the sewer for hours." Beast boy pointed out

"Well how bout you go run over there and knock and find out?" Crow said

"Uh Me? By myself? No way!" BB said

"Okay then we go tomarrow…" Crow said

They made their way to the hotel Cyborg had picked it was average in every way nothing special at all. Crow went to the desk alone the others stood back a distance they had aired out a little since they walked all the way there but they still stank.

"excuse me sir but you'll have to leave your friends are disgusting the customers." The clerk said

Crow slammed down a wad of money Two rooms…

The clerk flipped through the money. "you've got enough for one double bed room but not enough for a second."

"Then we'll take a Double and a Single." Crow said annoyed

"Very well then names?" The clerk asked

Crow stopped he couldn't use their actual names

"John…John Crow." He said referring to himself "The lady is Samantha Star, the sick looking young one over there is Eric….Eric maul and the last one is Jack he doesn't have a last name I don't think…if he does he never uses it" Crow said

"Very well…that will do." The clerk said signing them all in."

"your rooms are 103 and 114 they're on the third floor." The clerk said handing him the two keys.

"Thank you…" Crow said motioning for the others to come they crowded in the elevator and went up to the third floor. It was now that crow decided to tell them of their….situation

"uh…guys…we have a small problem." He began

"Oh no…what now?" beast boy asked

"I only had enough cash on me for ONE Double bed room" He said

"So we've only got one room!" Cyborg asked

"No no I have two…but the other is a single bed."

"I call one of the double beds!" BB said quickly Starfire Cringed she was going to pick the other bed but no way she wanted now that beast boy had taken one. She was not about to subject herself to his endless jokes and tricks especially when they would be alone and no one could help her out.

"Hey! I was gonna call that!" Cyborg said

"Guys…you're forgetting we've got a lady with us…let her decide." Crow said

"Good point.." Cyborg agreed there were a lot of compromising sitations one could have in a single bed in any of the possible combinations but the one likely to be most uncomfortable was Starfire.

"ooh! I wish to sleep with crow!" She blurted out and instantly regretted it her wording had been a bit off

Beast boy and Cyborg Were laughing hard Crow froze… "Er…Starfire…" He began

"I mean..what I meant to say was…OOOOH you know what I meant!" She said finally getting angry.

"Yea but it was still funny." BB said laughing.

"Yea especially after that Convo in the tunnel!" Cyborg added.

"So…that puts us in the single, Cyborg you and Beast boy get the double." Crow said seriously, preventing any other jokes.

He hadn't noticed it before but starfire was somewhat behind him as if he was her shield

She didn't like it when they made fun of her and so far crow was the only one defending her kind of like what Robin used to do.

Crow handed Cyborg the key to the double room and led starfire to the single however once they opened the doors Cyborg and BB had the single and Star and Crow had the double.

"Enjoy your night boys" Crow said laughing as he yanked starfire in and shut the door.

"heey! What the!" Beat boy protested he snatched the key from cyborg the bottom of it which had said double before now said single

"He changed it!" He used his magic or whatever to change the words!" Beast boy yelled

"See what happens when you make fun of people?" Cyborg said irritated

"ME! You were laughing too!" BB argued

"So? You made the joke…and I'M getting the bed you can sleep on the floor." Cybrog said

"The floor! You're kidding no way I'm sleeping on a hotel floor! I don't know whats been on it!" BB said

In the other room Starfire looked confused. "I thought we were sleeping in the single bed." She said looking at the two beds in the room.

"We were..until they decided to make it a joke…BB was really starting to bug me so I decided he needed a punishment of some sort." Crow told her

Starfire giggled "I see…Thank you." She said kissing his cheek.

"Don't mention it Star." He replied

She smiled and giggled a bit.

"What?" He asked turning to her

"Nothing…just that's the first time you've called me just Star" she pointed out

"Oh…I guess it is…" He said turning back taking off his cloak and setting it on the far bed.

For the first time his shirt was visible on the back it read "To choose to die is easy to choose to live is to choose the hard road."

Starfire pondered those words. "Crow?"

"Yes?" He anserwed

"I've noticed you have many quotes and sayings…I know the writing on your cloak means something but I do not know in what language it is written." She said

"It's Japanese…it means Faith in Freedom. I chose those words because of the impending doom destiny has proclaimed but I choose to believe we have choices and not everything is ruled by fate. So that's where the phrase "Faith in Freedom" comes from. Unbound by the chains of fate." he explained

"I see…that is…very poetic and what of the one on your shirt?"She asked

"Ah…it comes from the hard life I've lived, I haven't told the rest of you my history so you wouldn't know but…my parents died a long time ago…I lost my fiancé on the same day and all to the same person. Before that Raven my closest friend left without a word to anyone she just…disappeared we knew she had run away because her things were gone. But that was it. So after losing my parents I had no one…I was forced to be on my own and for a while I wished I had died with them. But I chose to live…to struggle and survive that is where it comes from." He explained

"Oh my…I had no idea…Crow I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your parents…and your fiancé I did not mean to bring up such a painful subject" She said

"Don't worry about it…it was a long time ago…" He said quietly he felt for his earring and suddenly realized it was missing.

"oh no!" He cried

"What? What is the matter?" she asked

"My earring..it's gone..I must have left it in the tower." He said checking all of his pockets franticly

"But…it is just an earring is it not? Can you not just buy another one?" She asked

"No…not that one…it's…a reminder" he said

"A reminder of what?" she asked

"The day I decided to live…it's also all that's left of them…just a little of their blood forms the ball on the bottom of the earring As long as I have it I always have them with me…but not now." He explained

"Oh…I see…" starfire said looking down ashamed she had suggested he get another one now.

He sighed "I am going to get that earring back tomorrow…and I don't care who I have to go through." He said.

"but what of our friends?" Starfire asked

"I won't harm them…much" He said

Starfire frowned

"I'm sorry but it'll be unavoidable. This is much to personal for me to just forget about it." He told her

"I..understand as long as they shall be okay I suppose it is alright…" Starfire said acknowledging how important the earring was to him.

"So who's hitting the shower first you or me?" He asked

"you go ahead I will…watch the television perhaps there is some news we can use." She answered

"Alright." Crow replied starting toward the bathroom pulling off his shirt on the way revealing a scar on his back which looked like a cut it went across almost the entirety of his back he also had a smaller cut on his chest. Starfire stared at it for a moment but didn't dare ask. She had asked enough personal questions for one night and learned much more than she had intended and perhaps more than she wanted to.

She turned on the small television which sat on a dresser in the room and flipped through channels until she came across the evening news.

"We're still awaiting word on what has happened but all we know is that something is going on downtown…" The news reporter said her curiosity piqued she remained on the channel waiting to find out just what had happened odds were it had something to do with Slade.

"Okay…we have a report now it seems the teen titans or some of them at least have gone bad folks…two of them are tearing apart the downtown area it seems as if they are looking for something." The reporter stated. Starfire's eyes widened 'beast boy' she thought. They must've been looking for him. A minute later they had a live video feed of it happening Raven and Robin were tearing things apart building by building they were clearing everything and once they were certain beast boy was not there Raven would level the building. Cars were tossed aside everything that got in the way was just fodder. Starfire watched in horror as they destroyed.

"one must wonder…if these two are indeed lone rotten apples then why haven't the other titans come to stop them yet?" Another reporter asked

"That's a good point Jim but for all we know they could have already fought and lost before this happened" The first reporter stated

"True but not very likely James…I think they're on a search and destroy mission and when they find what they're looking for it won't be pretty I've long since said having the Titans here was an error having Teenage so called 'super heros' is only begging for punishment Teenagers are unpredictable erratic and prone to have a temper and change their minds frequently Simply put we can't trust them to protect us!"

Starfire cut the television off and hugged her knees she felt like crying the city was turning against them Slade had turned their friends against them. Who could they turn to? They needed help and needed it badly.

"Hey turn that back on!" Crow yelled from the shower "I was listening to it" He called

Reluctantly Starfire turned the TV back on and saw something she didn't expect to see.

Marona had come out of hiding wherever she'd been and was fighting them both of them alone.

"Crow!" Starfire yelled

"What? What's going on?" He asked

"That woman…Marona she's fighting them!" She said

"What!" Crow rushed his shower and came out wrapped in a towel, his hair was soaked and hung down now instead of being spiked it stuck together in some places dripping coming down only slightly past his shoulders the only thing that didn't change were his bangs were still exactly where they had been like they were permanently stuck that way, he had to see for himself sure enough Marona was on the screen he could see her lips moving as were Raven's but the words weren't loud enough to be carried through. ' was she what they were looking for?' crow wondered in actuality it made sense Marona was the biggest threat to Raven's life right now destroying her would mean Slade could be fairly certain he would be successful.

"Well looks like I'll be getting my earring back sooner than I expected." Crow said another small black object appearing in his hand this one was a cube. It expanded and burst but this one only had a few extra pairs of clothes.

Before Starfire even turned around he was dressed. A moment later there was a knock at their door.

"Hey have you guys seen what's happening?" Cyborg called through the door.

Crow went over and opened it. "Yea we saw…I'm going Cyborg you come with me Starfire and Beast boy stay here."

"But why us?" Starfire asked

"Because if we lose we'll probably be either killed or captured and turned into slaves like Raven and Robin…I don't think it'll work on Cyborg though that's why I picked him to come with me if they try to turn us He should be immune and he can break out and if it does work beast boy can sneak in and get my books…they have they spells you'll need to bring us back though I want YOU to actually do the casting Star." He explained

"Hey! I can handle it! I can totally handle a little spell…" Beast boy said getting looks from all three of them.

"Frankly…I don't want you running around in my head." Crow said

"Double for me" Cyborg said "Who knows what this guy would do in there?"

"aww come on man" Beast boy pleaded

"Your tendency to play jokes is just too high you'd have too many opportunities to ignore so I won't give them to you and we won't have a problem. Besides it'll be extremely dangerous in there so if you spend time messing around you might get yourself killed." Crow said simply

"pfft..fine…" BB said crossing his arms

"alright let's go" Crow said leading the way Cyborg followed and they went up to the roof where crow levitated the both of them and took off headed for downtown.

Cyborg and Crow arrived at the battlefield amid utter chaos news crews were everywhere, people were running and screaming the wind was like that of a powerful hurricane Marona was really giving it to them Raven had all kinds of objects flying through the air and Robin was letting loose with every kind of gadget he had.

"MARONA!" Crow yelled out she heard him but didn't turn to face him she was rather preoccupied

"Bout time you showed up crow…I've been waiting." She said as he came closer. She let the wind behind her die down so he could approach.

"So here to save me?" She asked deflecting a Car Raven had thrown.

"In a sense…yes but I have other reasons for being here too" He replied

"still trying to save Raven are you? You'll never learn…you couldn't even save me from a mortal what makes you think you can save her from fate?" arona asked

Crow didn't say anything despite the blatant point she had he didn't care he was going to try anyway. "I'm much more powerful now than I was then…I'll change fate just you watch." He said letting cyborg down and flying in front of her His cloak emitting a brilliant blue glow because of how close to Marona he was.

"Faith in freedom…you " she said to herself as if remembering something. "maybe…"

Cyborg had many shots at robin but he found it difficult to take them it was robin of all people…but hey they'd been down this road before and he resolved he had to Robin would want him to. With the wind slowing him Cyborg had an easy shot but Raven kept him very well protected.

Crow manifested a stave not exactly his choice weapon but it would have to do he couldn't risk seriously harming either of them. "marona how bout a push?" he asked flying forward.

She grinned "Just like old times eh?" She said forcing a powerful wind boosting Crow toward Raven at a speed otherwise not possible.

"sorry hun." He said as he whacked her with the stave she almost flipped entirely over before hitting the ground unconscious.

Crow spun around as Marona's wind died she had no real need for it now that Raven was down. Robin was surrounded and had no where to go. Suddenly Crow's cloak started to glow purple.

"Purple?…oh no….he's here too…" Crow said looking around Slade came flying off a rooftop his boot landing squarely in Cyborg's jaw sending him flying back into a building, which collapsed almost entirely afterward.

"Cyborg!" Crow yelled

"Well well…looks like the Crow finally learned his place…" Slade said turning to Crow.

"Shame I was beginning to think I wouldn't have to kill you, you would have made an excellent addition to my forces." Slade said forming a fire aura. Crow knew there was no where he could go now he had Slade's direct attention. The first fire blast he was able to block but Slade moved behind him immediately after and punched him in the back knocking him forward Crow stumbled and tripped over a muffler from one of the many Cars Raven had used as projectiles. Crow turned and saw another fireball headed for him he managed to roll out of the way a split second before it hit. He hadn't been prepared for Slade to make an appearance personally nor had he expected him to posses this much power it was like he was teleporting…wait maybe he was. Marona watched unsure what to do she could try to help but fire and wind were not a mix that worked to their advantage. She watched helplessly as Crow struggled until finally he was cornered Slade wasn't giving him time to set up any spells or use any powers it was a relentless assault that hadn't let up for an instant since it began.

Crow found himself at a loss for how to fight him he had been watching for a weakness a hole anything but there had been nothing.

"Time for some roast bird" Slade said his aura of fire grew and he vanished Crow was at a loss for a second but soon realized where he had gone and turned to see the stream of fire coming from behind.

"CROW!" marona screamed out she couldn't watch anymore she had to do something the best she could do was encircle him in wind the fire followed the wind trail and circled Crow harmlessly enough but while he was unable to see where slade was his answer soon came when a fist connected with his jaw from the right. He was knocked back and stumbled but didn't fall.

Slade looked up at Marona "meddlesome woman I'll finish you too."he fired at her and her stream of wind was nothing to him he overpowered it easily.

"marona!" Crow yelled out as Cyborg finally dug himself out of the rubble. Crow managed to put up a barrier to save her but slade was one step ahead as always he appeared behind her and grabbed her.

"watch her burn" He said coldly.

"no! nonono nooooooo!" She screamed as flame took to her Crow flew toward them and Slade dropped her she fell burning Crow caught her and put the flames out as best he could

Slade was about to finish the both of them but he stopped as if he suddenly heard something.

"That was a warning boy. Forget what you're supposed to do or I'll kill all of them that way." Slade said taking Raven and Robin and leaving.

"Marona…" Crow said softly turning her over so she was facing him. Everything on her backside was burned.

"H…How bad?" She asked

He closed his eyes "Terrible…"

""It's…alright…Crow…" she said.

"But…I couldn't save you…that's twice now…most men only get to screw that up once." He said

"Guess you're just…talented." She replied with a half laugh

"Marona you can't die on me again…not like this…not now we need you" He said by now Cyborg had made his way over to them slowly he was badly damaged apparently there had been some fire in that kick slade gave him as well.

"No…Crow you don't…Slade…is the fire of death….I am the breath of life…death extinguishes life…and life is reborn...as…another…" She said her voice was beginning to lose strength

"Marona..we'll…we'll treat you we'll get doctors and everything…" Crow said.

"No….there's nothing they can do…I'm already dead remember? The only thing…that could truly harm me…was him..and now no one can save me…Don't …"Don't forget me…but don't hang on to me…understand? I…..I want you to be happy……I know you don't love me…but be true to the one you do…I tried…to change for you…I didn't know you hated it…I…….love….yo..…" she trailed off and was gone. Crow pulled her close and wept.

"it's…all my fault… it's all my fault" Crow muttered over and over.

"Hey man…you gonna be ok?" Cyborg asked

Crow looked up at him with a look of pure rage."DO I LOOK OKAY!" He yelled

3 cars exploded simultaneously. Cyborg backed off

"guess not…I didn't know you two had a history…" Cybrog said

"Just….go…please…" Crow said

"But…" Cyborg started and crow gave him that look again "Alright I'm gone." Cyborg said and limped off as best he could with his some of his circuits fried. Crow waited awhile various thoughts going through his head. Finally he snapped "GOD WHY!" He screamed a crater forming around him as a sphere of dark energy erupted from him destroying everything it touched. When it was over downtown didn't exist anymore just the crater formerly known as downtown. Slade even saw it from the tower

"impressive…he has as much potential as Raven…and I only killed one. I wonder what he'll do when the others are gone?" Slade wondered aloud.

"He will be like me." Raven's voice came from behind him. "Raven…what makes you so sure?" Slade asked her

"He is bound to me…by fate one way or another he simply has to decide which fate…one path had been closed the world will end one way or another now…He will come to us…just watch." She said her voice cold and though a hint of joy could be detected when she said he would come to them. Her hood hid her dark orbs of eyes and the large knot from when crow had struck her. She had seen the destruction as well and it pleased her, the new Raven was ready to destroy the world she just wanted to see what Crow would decide.

End Chapter 3

Whew..long, long chapter…hope you enjoyed it Crow's just prone to those 'uncomfortable' situations isn't he? and Poor Marona…Sure she was icy on the outside but that was the real her at the end. Crow is goin out of his mind…the city is minus a downtown area and who knows what the body count is on that one? Oh wait there won't be one…everything got vaporized…. Next chapter'll be up soon!….. As soon as my hand goes back to normal that is…owww….


	4. Go to Hell go directly to hell

Crow

Chapter4- Go to hell Go directly to hell do not pass go do not collect the teen titans

(XD it's raining and I was playing monopoly…oh and thank the new hit counter for this update I was gonna wait longer to put it up but seeing as the hits jumped to 50+ when I only expected at best half that I think you deserve the next chap a lil early.)

Starfire was getting worried Crow and Cyborg had not returned for some time now and the news crews had retreated when Slade made his appearance but what really bothered her was she had heard a massive sonic boom and right after it a few stations went totally dead and only static was on the channels.

"oh man what could have happened?" Beast boy wondered also worried he was freaking out things had never been this serious before. The closet they'd been was the whole Terra thing…

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door.

Starfire hurried to open it.

Cyborg half walked half fell through the door his power cells were drained and it had been a long walk on badly damaged circuits.

"Cyborg!" Beast boy and Starfire both cried simultaneously

"A few moments later they had him hooked up to a socket and he was charging which probably wasn't the best idea while he was damaged but it was all they could do.

He awoke an hour later and Crow still had not returned.

"Hey Star he's awake!" Beast boy called out Starfire came overand sat beside him. "Cyborg please…tell us what happened. Crow still has not come back." She said her expression grim.

"wow…I must really be looking bad if even star is looking all doom and gloom…" Cyborg started

"We went to the battle as planned…Crow decided we were going to help out Marona it made sense seeing as we couldn't have fought both her and Raven, and Robin. She agreed easily enough…it kinda struck me as odd…but what did I care as long as she helped right? With her help Crow was able to knock out Raven leaving Robin totally on his own…until Slade showed up…one he was there…the first thing that happened is I got nailed…wound up having a building fall on me." He told them

"What happened after that?" Starfire urged him on.

"I'm not too sure I could hear the fight I heard her scream out Crow's name…then a little after that I managed to dig myself out I heard him call out to her and when I looked Slade had her I mean he really had her…She was burning and everything he let her drop like a rock…He left after that picked up Raven and Robin and he was gone.Crow caught her and put out the flames but the damage had been done she had some last words and then….she was gone." Cyborg told them Starfire gasped and all BB could say was "dude…slade killed her?"

"Yea…Crow kinda lost it after that…I dind't know it before but from their talking at the end I figured out they had a history…apparently she was his girl." Cyborg explained

Starfire was even more shocked Crow had said his fiancé…wait he had also said Marona was already dead. Now it made sense.

"I see…so she was his…fiancé he told me of…" Starfire whispered

"What? You knew?" Beast boy asked

"I only knew that she had died…but he also said Marona was already dead did he not? I just put it together with what Cyborg told us." She explained.

"but wait… what happened to Crow?" She asked turning back to Cyborg.

"I dunno…he seemed to have lost it if you ask me… He snapped at me when I tried to talk to him told me to just go…so I did after that all I know is something big took out downtown and I don't mean like rubble…I mean It's gone nothing but a crater." Cyborg told them

"no…he didn't he couldn't have…"Starfire said in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so Star…when I looked it was the same energy as he and Raven use only He could have done it since by then Raven, Robin and Slade had left." Cyborg said

Elsewhere

Crow was heading towards the Tower determination in his eyes he had no idea what would happen and he didn't care just it would end one way or another soon…He wasn't going to hold back anymore all the safety's all the limits he'd put on himself to restrain his power to protect those around him were falling apart now he didn't care who got hurt just as long as he made Slade pay. That was all that mattered.

He was flying at the tower leaving darkness behind him. Slade was waiting for him on the roof. The massive form of a Crow appeared and Screeched it was quite similar to the Raven that Raven made. Suddenly Slade realized something.

"It's not her……oh this is rich."He said to himself

"What're you blabbering about Slade?" Crow said coldly

"I just figured out the truth…we've all been lied to…YOU are the one who destroys everything not Raven…she's just the trigger…You're both parts of a gun aimed at the heart of the world She's the trigger and you're the bullet in the chamber the rest of us are just extras." He said casually.

Crow actually smirked "Good then no one will care that you died first." He said forming the same whip he'd used inside beast boys mind. And he also formed a sword in the other hand.Their fight began with Slade using the now all to familiar fire blast. Crow with his power no longer bound to protect everyone else unleashed a wave of darkness from his own body stifling the flame and shrouding Slade in Darkness

"Well that's a nice trick" Slade said trying to remain confident but his new discovery only proved he could not win.

Crow's whip lashed out of the darkness and piece by piece ripped off Slade's armor leaving behind only a battered masked man.

Slade tried to fight back but every attempt simply met with air it was like the darkness was alive and keeping him from doing any real harm. He couldn't even use his flame power every time he manifested it seconds later it would be put out by an unseen force.

Crow brought Slade to his knees and approached him slowly the footsteps rang out ominously in a world where there was no other sound it seemed the only sounds that were permitted were the ones Crow allowed. He stood over slade sword raised

"do it…" Slade said quietly shamed by his absolute defeat

"Have you nothing to say for yourself?" Crow asked

"What for? Begging is pointless you are the destroyer…and even If I win Raven will become the destroyer either way I die and I die soon." Slade said

"remorseless creature…" Crow said he was about to bring the sword down when another Screech was heard this time is was Raven she appeared next to him.

"Crow." She spoke

"Raven" He replied

"Free them" Crow commanded looking down at slade

"No" He retorted

"Then die."Crow said

"Then they'll be soulless shells without direction." Slade said

"Then suffer" Crow said

"Do your worst" Slade taunted

"How about being eaten alive…slowly…by a flock of birds?" Crow said

Slades eyes widened "you wouldn't you're not that cruel you don't have it in you."

"Don't I? I am the Destroyer remember? And you killed my wife." Crow said Marona might as well have been his wife they acted as if they were married though they never went through the formality of it he had cared for her deeply perhaps she was right and it wasn't love but he did care and watching her die hurt.

Slade could only sit there in shock 'his wife?' he thought realizing just how deep he had dug his own grave. Crow manifested a flock of crows to peck at him they ripped flesh and ligaments.

"Arrrrghhhh Alright….alright" Slade finally screamed out and Crow called off the birds being eaten alive bit by bit was a torture even Slade could not endure Raven cold as she was now felt pity for her master reduced to such a pathetic state it was sad to watch and she could do nothing he gave no order so she would do nothing, except one thing.

She dispelled the world of darkness they had been in Robin was waiting he started to move until he saw slade then thought twice.

Slade chanted some incantation and the two enslaved titans were freed from the control of Slade however the darkness remained in them for it had always been there he just forced it to the front.

"Good boy…now go to hell" Crow said a large Crow manifested and Carried slade off through a fiery portal.

"Be seeing ya." Crow said as he passed through screaming all the way.

He didn't bother to speak to either Raven or Robin he just left them there on the roof confused He disappeared for awhile after that he didn't show up again until that night he made an appearance at the hotel to tell Starfire and the others they could go home.

"the knock came as a total surprise by now they had given up hope of seeing crow again but there he was he was hugged by Starfire who simply glad he was still alive.

"Crow! Where have you been? Cyborg told us everything and that downtown was destroyed and that you did but you didn't did you?" She was talking rapidly and beginning to cry.

"Slow down…hmm…let's see…Yes I did wipe out the down town area…and after that I killed Slade. You can all go home now…" He said his voice was low and tired he sounded deeply depressed.

"But what about you? You said 'you all' not 'we all'" Cyborg pointed out

"Yea…that place…it's not my home I don't have a home anymore I lost my home when my parents died…and Marona…the first time much the same way as this city has lost it's downtown." He told them

"You mean…Azarath is…" Cyborg started

"yes…it's gone…all of it…and I did it…just as I did here...I can't stay I don't belong here I don't belong anywhere I am the true destroyer I've known it all along but I never wanted to believe it…the proof is in my history all my life everything dear to me has suffered and been destroyed if I stay here the world will always be in danger I don't know what will set me off again…I limited myself…sealed away most of my powers to keep this sort of thing from happening but when Marona…." He trailed off and looked away from them.

"Say no more…we understand but Crow the world will be in danger no matter where you go as long as there are people and you exist so why not here?" Starfire asked

"Because of Raven…she'll hate me…and I can't handle that right now please..don't tell her about Azarath…I want…I want to do it myself one day…I have to go…I have to seal it again." He said but found he couldn't pry Starfire off him.

"No don't go…you saved…you saved our lives all of us…we owe you a debt we can probably never repay and you've saved the world today…just stay here." She pleaded

"I can't I told you…Raven…" He started but she cut him off

"Raven, Raven, Raven there is more to the world than Raven" Starfire said still crying.

"Perhaps you're right…but Marona is dead…and I have nothing what is there for me to care for? No one and nothing." he said Starfire let him go she was hurt basically he had just said he didn't care about anyone including her.

"So…us…you're friends we are meaningless? Am I meaningless too then?" She asked

"ugh…that's not what I…." He started

"Then you will stay." She said cutting him off she sounded determined. Crow Sighed

"Alright…I'll stay." He said finally

"Glorious!" She almost yelled clinging to him once more.

"ugh…how do I get myself into these situations all the time?" he wondered aloud.

"Man you're just talented I guess." Cyborg spoke up

After that they headed to the tower Raven and Robin were waiting

"You're back" Raven said standing she was glad to see the others especially Crow she had to find out what had happened earlier. Both her and Robin couldn't remember much of anything that happened while they were in Slade's control only bits and pieces that didn't make any sense. They'd spent the entire day trying to piece things together but to no avail.

"Starfire..,you tell them I'm going to bed." Crow said finally with the pressure off him he could rest it was well into the A.M. now and he wanted to get some sleep before the sun rose.

"Me? Why me? You should…" Starfire started but when he turned to look at her his face showed how tired he was everything was finally getting to him he knew this was coming and he hadn't wanted to be here when it hit he was already thinking about Marona again…and since the denial stage had been either extremely brief or skipped entirely and Rage had passed since he sent Slade to hell where he belonged, depression was setting in as he now realized she was really truly gone and wasn't coming back this time. He wouldn't get a third chance to try and save her. There would be no more of their petty arguments no more watching her play with the wind. It was all gone now…in his mind he was all alone. Although he was among others he was alone in his suffering and guilt he was alone in the knowledge he possessed of what happened to Azarath he was alone when it came to Marona…and he was totally utterly alone now in his own world as he slunk sleepily to his room while he heard Starfire begin to tell the story with Cyborgs help she would probably sugar coat it and he wanted her to Raven would regress into a deep dark little hole if she found out just how much she changed.

He got to his room and found his earring laying on the floor it was alone in the middle of the floor though there were other things around it. It alone stood out to him it reminded him of himself the story of his life really always alone well…after raven left. Then he had Marona but she never really filled the gap she tried hard and did enough to satisfy him but somehow it kept going wrong like when she changed herself to be more to his liking. It turned out he didn't like that at all. He laid down still clutching the earring he decided not to put it on just yet but just to hold it as he .lay there he felt a draft and remembered there was a hole in the wall. With a sigh and an annoyed grunt he flung random objects until they filled the hole.

"At least…I didn't have to get up…"He said aloud looking at the dresser and bookshelves that now blocked the hole though books were now scattered across his floor and a mess had fallen out of the drawers of the dresser and finally he got to sleep……for about 2 seconds or at least that's what it seemed like. A scream was heard and possibly another explosion though it was somewhat quiet for an explosion or maybe his senses were just dulled due to lack of sleep.

Now he was getting angry "I just wanted to sleep is that so much to ask?" He groaned.

In a wave of his cloak and a flash of black he was standing in the living room once more and yet again chaos had erupted. He stood there quietly for awhile. As Starfire seemed to be fighting someone who looked much like her they were shouting what he assumed to be insults in their native language. Black and green starbolts were flying everywhere yet the others seemed to be mostly staying out of it probably because it was personal. He noticed an odd trend they would talk in English except when they insulted each other he wondered why it was people always resorted to their native language when it came to insults. But he wonder about it later he wanted sleep and he couldn't get it as long as they were making racket.

"All I wanted…." He began quietly so quietly no one even heard him

"was to get a little sleep…." He was slightly louder but still no one heard him.

"so can I get…" he rose to normal volume but because of the fight he was still unnoticed

"A LITTLE PEACE AND QUIET! DOES IT EVER QUIET AROUND HERE!" He yelled everything stopped and black fire turned to look at the new voice.

"well what do we have here?" she asked confidently Crow's hood was still up so she couldn't see his features but she did notice the similarity between him and Raven. She almost giggled

"…copycat much?" She asked looking between the two of them "the blue cloak thing was so old when Raven did it now you're doing it too?" She said laughing

Crow didn't speak but just glanced toward the kitchen and a few seconds later pots and pans were flying at Black fire's head.

Raven too had entered into this now that she'd been insulted. The combined efforts of both of them produced far more objects than Blackfire could shoot or dodge and she wound up getting nailed more often than not.

"Ooooowww owowow ow ow ow ow ow! Okay okay I give! I'm sorry!" She yelled out diving behind the kitchen counter.

"geez…maybing pissing the two of them off wasn't the best Idea….should've stuck to just kicking Starfire's butt…." She mumbled to herself. She suddenly realized the objects had stopped coming after her.

"So…umm…truce?" She asked cautiously poking her head out of her hiding spot.

"Whatever….I'm going to bed" Crow said disappearing just the same as he always did.

"Why did you come back?" Starfire asked

"Well I DID say I'd be back didn't I?" Blackfire answered

"Sister….why do you hate me so? I do not understand…did I do something wrong?" Starfire asked looking down

"Well…you did betray me for starters…" Blackfire began

"Betrayed! You were the one who tried to frame ME for YOUR crime!" Starfire retorted angrily.

"Ok…so maybe that wasn't the best way to go about things…but You were supposed to help me out!" Blackfire said

"help?…but I could not…it would have been…" starfire was suddenly cut off

"Breaking the law…yeah yeah I know." Black fire stated making a face.

"But Star if it had been the other way around I would've let you go." She said

"If you had just asked for help maybe I would have too." Starfire said starting to walk away.

"well…I'm asking now." Blackfire said suddenly.

"what?" Starfire asked turning around

"I'm…in trouble again…and you're the only family member left that'll even speak to me anymore." Blackfire said

"You should have thought about that before you chose a life of crime." Starfire lectured

"Yea yeah…but it's a bit late for that now….look a deal went bad, real bad a bunch of friends of mine wound up dead the guys who did it are after me now if it were just the galaxy police or something I'd handle it on my own but these guys…they're something major…"

"I'm sorry but we cannot help you…we have…our own problems right now much bigger than what you're dealing with." Robin cut in.

"you don't say? I noticed that big hole in wall on the side of the tower." Blackfire stated

"Black Fire…please…it is possible that it may not be safe here…."Starfire began

"what could possibly put me in danger if I'm staying here? Besides either way I'm in danger if I go so I'm staying whether you like it or not." Blackfire said crossing her arms.

"Well….for starters there's two people living here that could potentially destroy all existence on this planet and possibly more…and second there's an evil force out there trying to make it happen and we don't know where it is or even what it is." Raven told her not caring what Blackfire thought just simply wanting her to go away.

"….oooookay…" was all blackfire could say with an odd look on her face.

"long story and we're not explaining it" Robin added

"Fine" Black fire said now sitting on the counter she had previously been hiding behind with her legs crossed one over the other.

"But the fact remains either way I'll still be in Danger and if I don't stay here I'd also be in danger of running into those guys right? So what's the harm in me being here? From the sound of things you'll be needing an extra hand anyway and I can't have this planet blowing up or anything with me on it…not to mention my mon…er I mean…stuff" She cut her self off with a warm smile obviously fake but it worked on Starfire at least

"Sister do you truly wish to help us?" Starfire asked hopefully with hands clasped In front of her. She had that starry look in her eyes as if envisioning some grand fantasy.

"Uh…yea…sure…jus don't do that anymore, it's weird." Blackfire said shrinking away from her sister.

"So…anyone are to explain?" Blackfire asked still somewhat lost.

"Later…Starfire you show her to a room I think we all deserve a little rest for now." Robin said yawning.

"Alright fine by me…" Blackfire said with a shrug.

In his room Crow was laying in bed only find now he couldn't sleep he was still tired dead tired even just sleep wouldn't come he silently cursed Starfire and her sister for keeping him awake. Now his mind wandered and he began to wonder if he really belonged here…but why not? After all Raven was here his only remaining connection to his past. Aside from his earring and that picture, which now that he thought about it Raven still had. There was one other thing…but he dared not use THAT.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of his door opening but he didn't turn to see who it was he figured Raven would be the only one to just walk in. since his back to was turned to the door she couldn't see that he was still awake.

He heard something being placed on his dresser "Thanks for bringing it back" He spoke up without turning around

Raven jumped a little she was surprised he was still awake.

"it's yours…you don't need to thank me I just wanted to look at it for awhile…" Raven said for some reason looking away.

"Raven…" He said sitting up.

"yes?" She asked turning toward him

"I uhm…oh nevermind.." he said with a huff.

"What is it?" Raven sat on the edge of his bed concerned

"it's just…I might be needing your help…" he said quietly

"Help?..with what?" she asked confused

"I…when I…lost control…and sent slade to hell…that…wasn't me…it was someone else." He said

"someone else?" Raven was at a loss for what he was trying to say

"What I mean is…something…I locked away…something bad that I've kept deep down below everything in the void of the back of my mind…it broke free…and I don't think I can contain it again and even if I could it'd never really be as far away as I want it to be."

Crow turned to face her and now it was apparent that symbols similar to the ones that had been branded on Raven were appearing on his face. One on the forehead one on either cheek.

"Crow…" She said softly. "what can I do?" she asked after a moment

"I hate to ask this of you..but I need you to go inside my head again…like before back in azarath…I know it wasn't…" He was cut off silenced by her hand. She shook her head

"no…it's fine…I'll do it we have to seal it back again or everyone is in danger right?" she said

"But…last time…" he began.

"Forget last time…Crow we're going to need each other if we're going to get through this…so I can't just turn my back to you now and tell you to deal with it on your own despite what happened before…" She said calmly.

"But…if we fail…you'll either be trapped or become tainted…it could get inside you too…" he said worried.

"and if we don't even try it'll take you over and we're all going to wind up like slade or vaporized into nothing." She retorted. Crow sighed knowing she was right.

"Now let's begin…" She said getting into a meditation position except her forehead resting on Crow's

End Chapter 4

Okay okay…short chap compared to the last one but hey…not everything can be THAT long. Relax you'll find out what happens and more importantly just what's inside crow's head but in the next chapter! I'm also thinking about writing a couple of alternate endings for this a bit early ne?


	5. Inside the mind of a crow

Crow

Chapter 5- Inside the mind of a Crow

Raven found herself in a dark world similar to the one beast boy and Cyborg had found when they had wandered into her mind except Crows' was more structured and more labyrinth like than her own. She found that even though she could fly it didn't seem to help much although there wasn't really a way to tell she swore she was going in circles somehow. Somewhere she heard Crow call out to her

"RAVEN!" He yelled but the cry seemed to echo from all directions.

"Crow! I'm here!" She yelled looking around for a sign of him he had to be here somewhere…but why didn't he begin next to her?

But what appeared soon after was not what she expected two crow's came to her one marked as crow had been and the other appeared as he had when he first arrived.

"no…he's tricked you dragged you in here too…" the unmarked one said

"Never mind him he's the reason I'm like this! I don't know what he is but he isn't me! Raven believe me!" the other said

Raven was lost confused even she didn't know what to do both of either of them could have been the real Crow

"Oh come on! He's marked with the mark of the evil one! He can't be anything else!" the unmarked Crow said

"But if that were true then why wouldn't I have just destroyed everything instead of asking for help?" the marked one asked he seemed to be straining.

"He brought you here to trap you Raven! You're the only one who could possibly stop him! So instead of fighting he chose the sneaky route." The unmarked one spoke he seemed desperate.

Raven looked toward the one with the marks. "You seem to be having a problem…"

"Yes…he is trying to prevent me from talking to you so he can do what he wants. Remember when I asked you to come? I was straining then too."

Raven was beginning to believe him until the other spoke

"Lies! He is labored now because as I said I'm trying to put him back in his box!" the other Crow stated

"Raven…please…I don't know if I can keep this up" the marked one spoke with much difficulty

"Liar…you're the one that's winn…ungh…" The unmarked one said but was cut off suddenly doubled over he fell to the ground.

"Crow!" Raven called out

"he's not the real one…can't you see?" The marked one asked

still she went down to him

"Raven….just think about this…in all the time you've known me….when have I ever actually asked for help?" the unmarked one said and suddenly she knew it was him Crow would never have asked for help not even from her the last time she had done this for him he had been against it even then.

She turned to the other "Reveal yourself demon..I know what you are now." She said sternly.

"Wha? But…I" He began stammering as she levitated up to him.

"oh screw it….I tried playing nice now it's time to get ROUGH" he said transforming no longer did he resemble crow but instead he resembled her father…

"….father?" She said in disbelief.

"Yes…he's in me too…" Crow said finding his way up beside her.

"welcome to my world." She said sympathetically she knew her father was not easy to deal with especially when he got inside your head.

"you both belong to me! So Stop resisting!" Trigon(Raven's father that's his name if you look it up) said

"WE belong to no one!" Crow Yelled back.

"insolent cur…your parents died for this you WILL do as I say!" Trigon replied as he swated Crow to the ground with a serious "umph"

"My…parents…." Crow said getting up slowly.

"You…it was you….you killed them that would explain how the weakling escaped…you possessed him and killed everyone…so I would take vengace and the seed of darkness would be planted…" Crow suddenly realized.

"Exactly boy I also knew you would lose control and destroy Azarath I hated that place and with it gone I was no longer bound there and now it's Earth's turn." Trigon said

Crow didn't know what to do he was feeling such rage such hatred but that was exactly what trigon wanted…but he didn't care

Crow flew at him his darkness once more revealing itself. Raven suddenly recovering from the shock that her father had killed Crow's parents and planned the destruction of Azarath

"Father!" She yelled unleashing wave after wave of magical energy upon him while Crow fought forming his energy into weapons Trigon wasn't really affected though only having to use one arm to block Raven's attacks and Crow he could fight with simply a hand swatting at him like a gnat. Eventually they both were thrown back.

"Hahahaha is that all boy? Is that the extent of the darkness within you? You'll need more…dig deeep show me, show me all of it!" Trigon yelled. Beams coming from his eyes and shooting toward them Crow pushed Raven one direction and dove the other.

"Crow…this is your mind…use it to your advantage" Raven told him.

"I..can't…I'm not strong enough I hit him with all I had…he's taken over too much of me." Crow said

"No…you're wrong. You can do something." Raven said

"like what? I didn't divide my emotions like you did so what am I supposed to do?" Crow asked

"in our minds…size DOES matter it's a subconscious idea." Raven said and suddenly he understood he needed to be Trigons size to win in the world of the mind.

Crow grew in size rapidly until he was in fact BIGGER than trigon. Raven followed suit but was only able to grow to equal size.

"let's do this" Crow said

Trigon went at them full on Raven was hit first and stumbled Crow swung and nailed Trigon shortly after sending him to the left side of his daughter Raven levitated him while Crow lashed out Trigon wound up flying back landing on and completely crushing the labyrinth.

"Yes…that's it! Keep it up! Both of you!" Trigon said getting up.

"Get out of my head!" Crow screamed forming a sword and leaping toward him Trigon was slashed in two and the fight was over. But this was only the start…what they destroyed was a mere extension of the actual demon Trigon. The real thing would prove much more difficult to defeat especially without the benefit of being inside their own minds. Still it was a task Raven and Crow were up for.

Crow turned to Raven "we…did it?" he said as if looking for assurance and she gave a nod as a reply.

Crow let out a sigh of relief. "Unbelieveable…" He muttered

"What is?" Raven turned toward him

"the fact that was probably the easy part…" He replied

"hm…you're probably right…It was like…he wanted us to win…like he wanted to see how powerful we were…still I don't see what purpose that serves." Raven said thinking.

"Well…perhaps this is his way of strengthening us to serve his purpose…after all we can only get stronger through battle…and that was definitely a battle…"

"…maybe…in any case…let's get back to the conscious world shall we?" Raven said

"Right…of course" Crow agreed and a few moments later Raven's conciousness was back in her own body the first thing she noticed were the others gathered in the doorway.

"Uh….hey what's up?" she tried being casual."

But the looks especially robin's demanded an explaination.

"I…" she began but Crow spoke up first.

"she was in my head…now if you don't mind GET OUT OF MY ROOM" He boomed when it came to people being in his room Crow was worse than Raven combine that with the fact that he didn't like crowds and we'll…you get the point.

the other titans scattered like bugs when a light is turned on. All except Robin, who simply stepped back once standing precisely outside the threshold of the door.

"I'm out" he said defiantly crossing his arms.

"Robin…" Raven began. Getting up and walking slowly towards him

"Yea?" He asked arching a brow

"We need to talk" She said dragging him off as the door closed behind her.

Crow sighed and sat back leaning against the wall his bed was next to he closed his eyes starting to relax... "what next?" he said and at that instant as if he had asked for it someone knocked at his door

"Come in…" He said reluctantly after a moment of hoping they would just go away.

To his surprise it was Blackfire that had come.

"you?…what do you want?" he asked having only opened one eye to see her then closing it again.

"nothing really…I was just curious is all." She replied standing casually in front of him.

"well?" He asked

"Well what?" she said confused

"you said you were curious so that implies you had a question." He said simply opening his eyes and looking up at her annoyed.

"right….you really don't like me do you?" she asked

"honestly I could care less either way about you…you're just another extra to me." He said coldly

"hmph…" she shook her head. "fine…I wanted to know what's really been going on around here…something tells me you know more than the others do." She said frankly

"heh…you'd be right there…but the question is…is that a good thing or not? And then secondly how much would be knowing too much?" He said answering her question with a riddle. But Blackfire understood it was similar to a saying in the underground if her criminal life had taught her anything it was that knowledge could kill you.

"Are you saying if you told me that I would be in danger?" she asked

"exactly…why do you think none of them know the whole story? Raven is the only one who knows much of anything besides me. And besides even I don't have all the answers…" He said.

"okay…tell me one thing…who's side are you on?" she asked

"what side are you on?" he asked turning her own question back at her

"how can I even be on a side when I don't know what…oh…" She said suddenly realizing what he meant.

"Exactly." He said closing his eyes again.

"well then I'll be going…ya'know we're more alike than I thought…maybe we should have another chat like this sometime…" She said

"Yea…sure" was Crow's only reply as she left.

Blackfire returned to her room only to see trigon was waiting for her except at this moment he wasn't large or anything in fact he was about 5'7" wearing a suit and shades likely to blend in until he wanted his presence to be known

"Master trigon…Why are you here?" She asked

"It's about time you reported Blackfire…what do they know?" he asked impatiently

"not much…most of the Titans are fairly lost on exactly what's happening or how to deal with it however…Crow on the other hand knows far more than he's willing to tell…and Raven knows a good deal as well. Robin is probably the next most knowledgeable." She told him

"And what of your sister?" He asked turning to her

"She is…as airheaded and naive as ever…I doubt she can even begin to comprehend just how serious things are." Blackfire told him

"I see…you've done well now I want you to bring Crow to me…alone I don't want the rest of the titans involved yet." He told her

"Understood" She replied

"Good…I expect to see him in the next couple of days Blackfire…"

"A couple days? But…he doesn't trust me yet I believe I started off fairly badly with him."

"hm..that is a problem…fix it afterall when the world ends you two will be getting fairly close I imagine. Seeing as only a select few will survive."

"Yes..sir…" Blackfire said reluctantly she had no idea how to get close to Crow her latest attempt went fairly well but one conversation didn't change things.

Having said his piece Trigon vanished fading into darkness.

Blackfire sighed. "Damn..just when I finally talk to the guy Trigon goes and asks me to bring him in…" though she'd never admit it Blackfire was intrigued by Crow he was different than the others walking a very fine line between good and evil occasionally corssing it to either side but never straying too far from the middle. Much like herself. He lived for himself he didn't take sides or have loyalties except to Raven but even that was about to change.

End Chapter 5

Well…I didn't introduce Blackfire for nothing ya know the end is coming soon! I've decided to do the multiple endings so next chapter will be the branching point for all these endings


	6. Cross roads

Chapter 6 -Crossroads.

In the past week Blackfire had become increasingly freindly particularly to Crow she was obviously flirting with him much to the dismay of Starfire who freqently interferred with those flirtations untill finally Crow got fed up with it.

"Ok Look!" He said suddenly as the two were in the middle of an argument they stopped and turned toward him.

"what?" they both said simultaneously.

"I'm tired of this little...compitition of yours. I'm not a prize and I'm not going out with either of you so there's no point in fighting over me." He said simply Starfire looked like she was crushed Blackfire seemed totally unfazed however.

"One Date." She said suddenly

"What?" now Crow was lost.

"One Date that's all I'm asking after that you can decide what you want and lay down whatever decree just gimmie one date." Blackfire replied she needed this oppertunity otherwise she'd likely never get him alone and then Trigon would be angry...

"Fine...when?" Crow said seeing the look in her eyes told him it was either this or continue enduring their bickering. he'd gladly simply go on a date if that was all it took to put an end to it. Starfire gasped she couldn't believe this.

"Hm..." She thought for a moment "Todays a saturday...so how 'bout tonight? say...eightish?" she asked

"Whatever...just don't keep me waiting when I'm ready to go." He replied and that was the end of that. he walked off and Blackfire stood with a smug look on her face quite proud of herself. Starfire simply glared at her.

"what? I asked he said yes you've got no one to blame but you for not saying anything." Blackfire told her and walked off to get ready for her date. It was about 6:30 so 8 o'clock wasn't too far off considering she hadn't even remotely been ready she hadn't even decided what to wear. Or if she would go out and buy something to wear...

Eight o'clock rolled around real fast actually. Crow was sitting with Raven conversing about Trigon and when it was likely he'd make his next move while Robin listened. He had forgotten all about the 'date' and Blackfire stood behind him with her arms crossed. she waited for awhile but seeing as she went unnoticed she decided to do something and bonked Crow on the head it was a playful tap but he turned angrily at her untill he realized who it was and why he'd been hit.

"We have a date remember?" She said impatiently.

"A date?" Raven looked up at him curiously.

Crow sighed. "A date..." he said without much enthusiasm. he wasn't really paying attention to what blackfire was wearing he barely even noticed it was different than usual.

"Now come on!" She staid stomping a foot and starting to drag him off.

"Er...guess I'm going.." Crow said not putting up much of a fight.

When they were standing outside it occured to him they hadn't set a destination for their date. "So...any idea where we're going?" He asked Blackfire stopped realizing they both had forgotten to plan on where to go. "hmm..." she thought for a moment and Crow started to head back in but she grabbed his arm "oh no...you're not going anywhere but with me." She said with a slight tease. she was flirting again. Suddenly she lifted him into the air headed across the water and landing on the rocky shoreline.

"So I take it this is our date?" Crow asked boredly.

"Our first stop." She replied sitting on a large rock. It was twilight Co-incidently Crow's favorite time of day unless it was a good starry night and given there wasn't a Cloud in the sky it looked like it would be. He sat on the rock next to her staring out at the water. the sat in silence for awhile just staring out at the sunset before Crow spoke up suddenly uncharictaristcally starting the conversation. "You know...you happened to pick a pretty good time to come out here...I like the twilight hours."

She glanced over at him surprised he was speaking. "I like it too...but Night time us always number one for me." she replied

"Only when the stars are out." Crow said leaning back.

"Stars? so you like them too?" She asked Crow looked at her Surprised Blackfire even cared about anything that wasn't green or valuable. "Yea...I find them...relaxing like the water here. tonight's gonna be a good night I can feel it." he told her looking up at the sky.

"Well naybe we should just stay here then." Blackfire offered inching closer to him he didn't mind it though if she really liked the stars she couldn't be all bad.

"I wouldn't mind that." He replied and Blackfire took the oppertunity to rest her head against his shoulder.

"You know...I never imagined you to be the type for a queit night on the beach." Crow said.

"Why not?" Blackfire asked looking up at him.

"You just seem like...the party type." He replied

She smiled weakly "you know...parties are nice...but not for dates." she replied

"And why is that?" he asked

"Because at a party alot of bad things can happen. I've seen it myself..." now her voice held a hint of sadness as she recalled a memory.

"Aren't you usually the bad thing that happens?" He asked reminding her she was the bad girl here.

"Hey...I didn't exactly plan on this life of crime thing...it just kind of...happened...see my old boyfreind and I were at a party when it started...things got out of hand and a fight broke out I wound up using my powers and accidently killed some guys. I hadn't meant to kill them just stun them but it was way too late we went on the run after that because he was in just as much trouble as I was and he had a record already if he got caught he was done...me I'd have been locked away for my part alone. though eventually he ditched me...found some other girl and that's about when I really lost it...after that I did what I wanted took what I wanted and whoever got in my way was as good as dead. even him..." Crow had been listening intently to her story and he noticed she was on the verge of tears it was also now that he looked at her and realised she had gotten new clothes for this date. a fact that had somehow eluded him before likely because he hadn't cared.

She was wearing a midnight blue skirt and a black and blue top with fishnets for sleeves. She had taken great care to pick the colors she figured he'd like the blue her reasoning being he wore blue all the time and Raven wore blue as well and everyone knew he was stuck on Raven.

"Blackfire..." He whispered not knowing what else to say than her name.

" Look at me..ramglin on about my old boyfreind on a date..." She said with a sigh she looked out as the setting sun.

"Don't worry about it...Hey after the sunsets I wanna take you somewhere..." He told her.

she perked a little "why after the sunsets?"

"You'll see when we get there." He replied and they sat like that for awhile untill the sun fully set and it was officially night time.

"well time to go" he said suddenly and carried her off to the eastern side of the city. landing in front of a place called "Starlight"

"what's this?" she asked curiously despite the fact they were about to go in.

"A favorite place of mine.A star themed resturant which just happens to have a branch here." he told her and led her by the hand inside.

Star themed was an understatement she soon found out. The walls of the place were painted black and had a sparkly stars on it some larger than others some as tiny as specks each appeared to be painted on individually and it gave of an sort of errie feeling like you'd walked into a pocket of space itself. everything inside was either black or clear as crystal or likely _was_ crystal. she let out a slight gasp in awe when her attention drifted to the central light which served as the 'sun' of the place Illuminating everything it rotated slowly giving off a comfortable level of light. the whole place despite it's theme had a real high class feel to it. She could see hadn't really known what to expect before coming in here but now she saw that the few people sitting having drinks looked like they were carrying important papers some of them openly looking at maps of the stars and such so she figured they were astrologers or scientists. yea...real high class. there were a few 'normal' looking people but they seemed to be just sitting talking giving her the idea this place was pretty expensive to eat in too.

"wow" was all she could say.

"I looked them up earlier and made arrangements since I figured you didn't have much of a plan for our date and we had to come after sunset because that's when they open up. No set time just whenever the sunsets." He explained

He went to the front desk and mentioned their reservation not that it was really nessisary the place was far from packed not many people knew about Starlight and even fewer could actually afford to eat there. they had a table in the corner the manager obviously didn't like the look of Crow and Blackfire but there was nothing he could do about it but keep an eye on them. had it been his usual place Crow would've been welcomed personally by the owner and shown to his usual table.

They sat and were handed black menus with gold trim and Stars on the cover forming the word "Starlight" upon opening it the star background persisted and Blackfire's eyes nearly buldged at the prices. it was almost $200 for a drink and JUST a drink and that was the cheapest one. No wonder the place was empty.

"what's with these prices?" she asked

"If the drinks were any cheaper people would likely be killing themselves and not knowing it. they're _that_ strong." he explained

"hm...we'll see about that I haven't had an earth drink yet that could get me tipsy." she replied taking it as a challenge she noted however a few of the food options actually were cheaper than the drinks though many were even more expensive, or around the same price."

"don't worry I can afford it I eat here all the time just don't get crazy...on second though I'll order for the both of us." he said seeing the gleam in her eye.

when the waiter came around he ordered their two drinks the Nova for Blackfire, and the Super Nova for himself. The special of the day was Star duck. So that's what they had. The glasses came and were some kind of crystal though Blackfire wasn't sure what kind she was positive it was valuable. and a large star was on either sides of the glass making for four stars total. It was a tall glass too.

Blackfire took a sip she closed her eyes at first reveling in the taste then swallowed and recoiled "what is this dynamite extract!" she asked trying to keep her voice down.

Crow just laughed. "now you see why I only got you the Nova. anything stronger and you'd have likely knocked yourself out. Drink slowly in very small sips I don't know what's in them and I don't want to know but it tastes like heaven untill you swallow it..." he advised and she gave a nod. she tried again this time a much smaller sip giving her a refined and upper class look for only a moment and she sat it back down much more sastisfied with it than the first attempt.

"Ok..so you're leaded...but how do you keep up that cash flow? I mean you're gonna run out of cash sometime seeing as you're not working or anything." she asked

"hah please...bank interest alone keeps my funds going not that I use them all that much besides for food. I was just fortunate my parents frequented Earth. otherwise I'd be in trouble though I do occasionally do other things for cash if I need some money in hand" he told her.

After that they ate in silence for awhile.

"so...Crow...tell me what is it really we're up against? I know you said knowing would be dangerous but I really out to know." She tossed the subject out there despite knowing enough about Trigon to know she couldn't beat him.

"Trigon the terrible. Is his full title. He's a demon who goes across dimensions and universes destroying all in his path and conquering the universes to build up his armies to go on to the next he leaves no life in his wake." Crow told her.

Blackfire was stunned now Trigon had only mentioned the destruction of _this_ planet not all the others in the universe just what the hell was she supposed to do with all her money if he killed everybody thus making it worthless?

"Universes? but I thought he only destroyed planets..." she muttered

"hm? you've heard of him? well...whatever you heard it was quite wrong a serious understatement of his evil." Crow told her.

"Uh...yes I've heard of him I've been all over the universe and I've seen a planet or two he's been to...but if he's going to destroy the universe why's he doing it one planet at a time? I mean that'd take eons wouldn't it?" She asked

"because he must for this universe. it's protected by an ancient seal forged in times I don't even know of. A 'Crest of Stars'

the crest is actually a star pattern and Planets actually form the points of it and not stars as the name implies. the Crest is 6 planets. the five points of the star and then the heart of it binding them together. this planet is the heart." He explained.

Blackfire couldn't believe it she had yet again screwed up royaly she didn't want responsibility for the death of the universe that wasn't her thing she just wanted to enjoy herself is all.

"but what is it he needs exactly to come here?" she asked even Trigon hadn't told her that.

"I'm not sure exactly but I'm fairly sure he needs either Raven or me. Or for the planet to die in which case he can just come to our universe and destroy it." he told her.

"I can't believe this!" she thought finally she'd have gotten rich _and_ gotten rid of her annoying little sister but it'd cost her everything else too. well obviously now was not the time to start freaking out Trigon was still expecting her to deliver Crow and Crow was still expcting to finish this date.

After thier meal they left the 'Starlight' and decided to simply wander around town for a while stopping whenever a place caught their interest. It was all going great untill Blackfire saw _him_. she gasped when she saw the man across the street at the corner wearing a trenchcoat and hat looking like he'd lost his place from some mobster movie. he was wearing glasses but he tipped them to her so she could see clearly his four eyes. No mistaking it. It was Trigon.Reminding her to bring Crow to him.

"what is it?" Crow asked looking at her with a bit of concern.

She almost panicked thinking of something to say something to tell him...something to get him somewhere out of the way..."uh..Remember when I came I mentioned there were some guys after me?" she asked

"yea?" he asked

"one of them is here." She told him Crow gave a understanding nod and didn't look in the direction she had figuring if the guy knew she'd talked there'd be trouble.

"You want me to take care of him?" Crow asked

"No...we're in a bit of a Crowded area and I know he won't hesitate to bring other people into this. I don't need that kind of publicity while I'm here." she told him.

"Alright so we lead him somewhere he thinks he can get the jump on us and we take him out." Crow suggested

'_perfect' _she thought

"Yea...lets do that." she agreed.

They carried on normally walking straight and Trigon of course followed. They led him to an abandonded contruction site (you know that one where the titans continually seem to fight cinderblock that never changes? yea that one.Give ya a guess why it's abandond : )) but Trigon didn't show right away.

"did we lose him?" Crow asked curiously.

"looks that way...but hey...we're alllll alone." She said throwing her arms around his neck.

"You don't give up do you?" Crow asked

"Never." She replied and seeing her opportunity kissed him rather suddenly.Crow though the date had been nice and all and maybe he'd even grown to like her a bit hesitated deciding what he should do before giving in to the moment and kissing back.

"Glad to see you two are getting along." Trigon said stepping from the shadows. Blackfire almost gasped and parted from Crow pretty embaressed she'd been caught kissing him. she blushed and looked down at the ground.

"Who are you?" Crow asked for no apparent reason seeing as he intended to relieve the man of conciousness soon enough.

"Give you three guesses." Trigon replied lowering the shades he wore slowly andplacing them in a pocket.

"t...t...Trigon! how? what're you doing here! what's going on?" Crow suddenly didn't like this.

"Blackfire led you here to me. She's been working for me since she went to the Titans." He explained

"What?" Crow looked at her hoping she'd deny it though he somehow already knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Why?" he asked

She continued looking down not able to face him actually it was more like she was afraid to. "I...I'm sorry Crow..." was all she could manage.

"Sorry! SORRY! you're going to doom the universe and you're Sorry! that's all you can say!" he asked furiously.

"I...don't know what else to say...he came to me offered me exactly what I wanted and I accepted he never said what exactly he was going to do here...and I didn't care..." She replied

"and for your service you will be rewarded with survival" Trigon cut in.

"I see..so this was about _your_ life. Let's forget the quadrillions(yes that IS a number) of beings who'll be wiped out!" Crow yelled.

"Enough! I brought you here so you can join me boy or you can die trying to stop me here." Trigon finally interrupted.

Crow froze. he'd almost forgotten Trigon was even there he was so angry with Blackfire. now what was he to do? agree? or fight and die? running wasn't even an option...if he changed sides Raven wouldn't be able to stop him...could the titans make the difference? he wasn't sure. but if he died here and Raven became the evil one...then no one would be able to stop her. Certainly not her freinds.

what to do what to do?

End Chapter 6.

That's it boys and girls chapter 6 meaning the end is next though I've decided to write at least 3 endings I don't know how many I'll do before I finally stop. This would have been up sooner but I had computer issues and had to rewrite it also my first two endings went with it sigh i was gonna put them all up at the same time and everything too! by the way be sure to check out my new fic "Awakening" which I've put up today as well. it's a FFVII fic though I''m willing to bet you it's different from pretty much every other FFVII fic out there yea...I had a crazy Idea so I set about making it make sense. Just wait till you see how it turned out: )


	7. Endingpart 1

Crow Ending - Part1-Doomsday

"Trigon you can go back to hell" The words seemed to echo in the area though he hadn't yelled it in fact it'd been barely above a whisper. but it was loud enough to anger Trigon.

Blackfire stood there sating at him in utter amazement he was a fool, a powerful fool granted but a fool nonetheless. "Crow...why? why choose extermination?" She asked him before Trigon could do anything he seemed to stop as if he himself were curious what the answer was.

"Because everyone and everything will die if I didn't and I may hate the way people treat this planet I may not like alot of things and I may be an asshole by some standards but I'm not about to let another planet much less a universe fall to Trigon even I care too much about certain people here."

He replied glaring at her. She caught the hidden meaning there he was saying she was heartless and cared for no one a statement that was pretty much true now that she thought about it she'd become a person she never thought she would be but it was much too late to dwel on things like that now. Far too late.

"I see..." was al she said to him.

"Fool" Trigon muttered raising a hand margical energy began to build up in his palm visibly causing the air around it to swirl.

Crow waited for the very last possible moment before moving and dodging the blast of energy that came at him Trigon ran at him but he phased through the solid rock wall and out through the otherside he had to get back to the tower, he had to tell the others.

Trigon growled angrily "Stay here and greet them when they come back. I must see to my gem..." He said to Blackfire and vanished leaving her all alone to face the fury of the Titans when they came.

She sat on a rock with her head in her hands. 'How did I get into this?' she wondered it was all so seemingly perfect in the beginning now the illusions were falling apart and the hell that had slowly surrounded her was revealing itself.

"to hell with this...I'm getting out of here Trigon can't stop me from leaving this planet." She said to herself standing and starting to leave but no sooner had she gotten airborne had she been stopped.

Something redish whizzed by her head and embedded itself into the rock.

"Going somewhere?" it was Robin and the rest of the team was behind him though she noted Neither Crow or Raven were here.

"You sure took forever...I was getting bored so I was going to leave." She said faking a grin she did NOT want to do this she knew she couldn't win maybe if it were one on one with each of them she'd have had a chance but as things were she was screwed and she knew it.

"So where's the other bird?" she asked crossing her arms mildly amused.

"you mean me? Raven isn't feeling well so I'm stepping in." the voice came from the shadows behind her. 'shit' was all she could think She knew instantly it was Crow and as she started to turn to face him she was hit by a large rock hurled by Crow it hit her in the side and sent her flying skidding along the ground to a stop.

"Owwww..." she groaned slowly picking herself up "HEY! that wasn't very gentlemen like ya know!" She yelled at him. then realised he wasn't there anymore she looked around franticly

"Lose something?" she whirled around to see him hovering above her another rock already heading for her.

She grunted mustering what strength she could and punched it shattering it.

the resulting dust cloud however caused her to lose him again.

"Can't you even face me!" She yelled though she regretted it when not even a moment later he appeared before her holding his sword of pure darkness. he was about to run her through when a truck hit him hard from the side.

He burst from underneath it with a large burst of energy and his eyes flared "WHO DID THAT!" He yelled then he saw her. Raven. but she was different. her hair was long and her face was covered in the marks of Trigon.

"R...Raven?" his voice shook and for once Crow was afraid. Raven had been taken by Trigon which meant he was likely either already here somewhere or he was controlling her directly.

"Crow I do not wish to kill you but if you force me to I will." She warned him

"Raven...what happened?" Crow asked taking a step toward her she tensed and he stopped in mid step backing off sensing she would attack if he approached any closer.

"Well...long story short after you all left Trigon decided it was time to make an appearance and awakened me." her explaination only raised more questions though.

"Awakened?" Everyone minus blackfire said at the same time.

"Yes. you see the Raven you all knew was a fake a false personality created to hide my true nature to ensure I lived to see this day. The day father comes and puts an end to this miserable universe I have existed in many other forms and bodies though my name has always been the same and Father and I destroy the universes as we see fit." She told them

"y...you can't be serious...w..what about our Raven then? what about all the memories? the experiences!" Crow asked

"Don't worry they're all still there I know all of you I remember quite clearly which is why I'm simply asking you to stay out of the way and you shall be spared though I know you won't do that..." she turned to robin then back to Crow "though maybe you will."

"Me?" Crow asked "and what makes you think that?"

"I know it. Because you love me." She answered walking towards him. He didn't move didn't speak didn't do anything but stand there as she approached him. As she walked he noticed other things about her that had changed her hair despite the obvious fact that it was long now had light blue at the tips and the occasional strand of it would be entierly blue. Her cloak had turned black save for a bit of blue that remained outlining it. the marks that now encompassed most of her skin formed Symmetrical patterns along her face and arms and he swore her skin had more color to it than it had before. Simply put she looked better then than she ever had.

"You do still want to be with me don't you?" She asked standing barely even an inch from him. her words pierced his daydream he'd wandered into after analyzing all the changes.

"I..." He began

"don't know?" She finished for him with a smirk the way she seemed to know what to do was as if this had all happened before.

He nodded "how did you...?" again he didn't get to finish.

"I don't expect you to remember but we've been through all of this before...countless times actually...you see in each universe the two of us are reborn we live whatever lives we like untill father is ready. Then one of us will be awakened. Obviously this time it's me." she said with a light laugh

"awakened.?...one of us? what..." it seemed talking was pointless because again she interrupted

"What am I saying right?" she sighed "What I'm saying is that both of us have been directly responsible for the end of countless universes. Sometimes we side together sometimes we fight against one another but we've done that the last...oh 500 times...I'd really like for us to be together again Crow...I miss you." She told him.

Everyone simply stood silent taking in all the news even Robin who was usually oh so demanding was speechless.

"I...I can't believe this...I spend my whole life trying to get you and now you offer yourself to me on a platter...the catch being the universe has to die." He said looking skyward. with a puff

"you don't believe me do you? you think Trigon messed with my head or some junk don't you?" She muttered

"Of course I do." He replied looking at her.

"then would you like me to show you our memories then? Perhaps you will remember too." She offered

"Heh...why not...if anything I'll probably prove they're lies." He replied and they vanished in a flash.

"H...Hey! where'd they go!" Blackfire yelled unintentionally drawing attention to herself again.

"You should be worrying about where _you_ are gonna go" Robin told her narrowing his eyes

Raven and Crow were standing in what seemed to be the middle of nothingness

"where are we?" He asked looking to her.

"A place between dimensions that records everything." She told him.

"The nexus?" He said questionigly

She gave a nod "correct"

"I didn't think it was possible for mortal beings to get here..." He muttered

"it isn't" She replied simply

"what're you saying that we're immortals?" He asked

"yes..and no...we're not exaclty immortal because we _do_ die but we always come back in another body though for the last 100 reincarnations or so we've both been exactly the same I don't know if that means anything or not I'll have to ask father later..." She replied.

She raised a hand and bits of pieces of thier former lives came into view. it all seemed to familiar yet so distant like it all happened a very long time ago.

something seemed to click in Crow's mind and the mark appeared on his forehead.

"wait...I remember...you and I...we were...married in our last life?"

She smiled "yes...we were...we got to be pretty old in comparison in that one before father came." She told him.

"We were both 30...weren't we?...why am I only rememebring this now?" he asked

"because untill one of us awakens neither of us is allowed memories of the past lives. though I can tell you one constant is that we've felt for each other since the beginning. Side with me this time Crow...Please" She pleaded

He concetrated mostly concerned on recovering the past memories.

"I was the one who was awakening before...that why we kept winding up fighting isn't it?" He asked

"yes...I always had someone to protect but you were always the loner so you never had any reason not to come with me though you did always have that little moral issue of wiping everyone out." she paused recalling something "Except in the beginning though...back then you were pretty ruthless I think oyu honestly hated everyone except me." She told him.

it was all flooding back to him now and he remembered one thing of particular interest. Where his powers came from.

"I remember...I was...suppsoed to be your guardian...Trigon..._made_ me." He whispered the last part.

"Yes..that's true...you were created as another insurance I would live to maturation and see the development of my powers in the new universes though when we became lovers...well daddy didn't like that...so he put you in the endless loop right along with me hoping we'd forget how we felt...obviously it didnt work." She said turning and walking up to him waiting expectantly for something.

"So are you with me? or do we have to fight to the death?

"Well..then...let's get to work." he replied pulling her into a deep kiss

She blushed against her will "You never cease to surprise me." She told him referring to the kiss, He smiled somewhat sheepishly and they appeared back where they had been and were just in time to see Blackfire go flying by and into a pile of rubble. Starfire flew past shortly after she stopped the instant she saw them and gasped. In fact everyone stopped with everyone wondering what had happened and whether Crow was freind of foe.

Blackfire dug herself out of the rubble and made her way ever so slowly over to them.

Starfire approached cautiously "crow..?"

Crow just stood there eyes closed for a while but suddenly his eyes opened and the marks flared out from him giving him a slight orangish glow.

Blackfire's eyes lit up as she relaised what that meant.

"Starfire get out of there!" Robin yelled a lttle too late as a bolt stuck Starfire in the chest sending her skidding backwards.

It didn't take long for her to get up but she was still so shocked she didn't know what to do Crow was now the enemy.

"no...Crow please do not do-" she was cut off by another bolt this one from Blackfire.

"Shut up _dear_ sister." She said with a glare Starfire's speeches disgusted her to no end.

Nevertheless Starfire picked herself up yet again at this point Robin and the others were about to move in.

"No..." Starfire said feeling their want. "do not attack them it is fruitless to fight a battle against our freinds..."She said

"Smart choice" Raven said and lifted into the air Crow and Blackfire close behind.

"Starfire..." Robin began.

"What we want...is to send Trigon back to where ever he came from fighting our freinds only lessens the chance of ever getting them back." Starfire interupted explaining what she was thinking.

"Let's do it...but first...we'll need a little back up." Robin said pulling out his communicator.

Crow and Raven seperated for a moment Raven went to speak with Trigon and Crow said he had something to what that something was Raven had some idea but she wasn't sure. But she had no time to worry about that now currently she was walking down the long hall towards what was now Trigon's throne. For some reason he'd decided to revert to his smaller form again perhaps there was still something he was waiting for before absolute destruction of the universe. She'd have to ask him about that while she was here.

She entered through a pair of large doors that were obviously new compared to the rest of the building which was mostly damaged this part of it was like brand new as if nothing at all had happened. Trigon down at her from his throne and waved away his demon servents.

"What do you want little one?" His voice boomed through the room the large space giving plenty of room for echos at his volume of speech.

"I came here for two reasons...one...Blackfire has proven loyal and is still allied with us I'm curious as to what we will do with her." She stated

"mm..." Trigon thought for a moment. "I thought surely she did not have a heart black enough to be worthy of us however maybe I was wrong we will keep her...for now...and where is Crow?" Trigon asked slightly agitated that his daughters guardian had not come with her.

"He is with Blackfire currently." Raven replied in a simple monotone an almost robotic like reply.

"I see...So Crow awakened as well...good good...now what was the second thing you wanted to know?" he inquiered.

"ah...I wanted to know why we haven't begun erasing this universe yet. Are you...waiting for something?" Raven finally asked

"Ah yes first I await for the defenders of this realm to challenge us it's been too long since we last had a chance to fight a battle much less one all together so call it...me having fun...there is one other thing here I wish to find somewhere in this universe lies a very porwerful magical stone with it we may be able to skip the reincarnation process and I can simply insert you and Crow into the next Dimensions as you are and as such you'll never have to relearn your powers again and become infinitely more powerful as we travel the multiverse. Also allowing us to progress much more quickly as opposed to waiting many years for a suitable point to insert you and even more for you to age enough to be able to do anything significant in the next world." He told her

"I see...that does sound..."she paused for a moment. "Appealing." was the word she finally chose.

"good. I belive this stone to be here on this planet as it was this planet that sat at the heart of the seal on this universe and such a powerful seal could not have been maintained without a source...the stone must be here. your next task is to search for it find it and bring it to me. Crow and Blackfire are to assist you in any way they can." Trigon ordered

"yes father" Raven replied with a slight bow of her head and turned to leave.

Crow was sitting with Blackfire on the roof of some half destroyed building. "Blackfire...what is it that makes you so...determind? so loyal?" Cros asked suddenly as they watched the sun set on the now burning city. It was a scene that might have been oddly romantic were it not for screams coming from below however those were slowly dwindling as demons razed everything.

"Loyal? hah I'm not loyal to anyone...except myself...and..."she trailed off looking down at the flames.

"And?" Crow questioned turning to look at her.

"and you...you're the only person who's really trusted or cared what happened to me...well aside from Starfire but we all know that story..." She raised her head to the sky and the smoke billowing upwards refusing to look at Crow. "man...I really messed my life up didn't I? and...come to think of it alot of others now hell almost all the others...and most of them will never even know I was responsible."

"Blackfire...this isn't _your_ fault it's our's we're the ones who exist to release Trigon upon the worlds and while you may have played some part in it this time I assure you it would have happened eventually even if you didn't. Everything eventually must end, nothing is eternal not even us, not the soul, nothing...everything has to die,everything can be destroyed and when there's nothing to destroy destruction itself will come to an end." Crows words stuck Blackfire as strangely beautiful although morbid it was the truth everything did end and while the existence of demons like trigon proved there was an afterlife yet in turn the fact that demons could be killed and evil spirits also proved the soul was not immortal either. Everything could die. Even gods.

Finally she looked at him just a long gaze in his eyes with no words to say for a long time "that was..." she started but found she could think of no word to describe it in all the languages she knew.

"I have a gift for you..." he said suddenly. causing her to quirk an eyebrow. "close your eyes..." he said softly and she did so. though she felt a little silly. He leaned in and kissed her and to his surprise she kissed back almost immediately but this kiss served a special purpose. Crows body began to glow and power went from him into her. after which he broke the kiss.

"wow...that was...some kiss." Was all Blackfire could say feeling new strength growing in her.

"I gave you some power...you'll need it if you're going to stay with us...Trigon won't allow any weaklings to leave this universe not even loyal ones." He told her.

"I see...but...you'll protect me right?" Blackfire asked leaning against him.

Crow smirked "sure"

"s'cuse me if you're done we have orders." Raven's voice came from behind them both whirled around to see her hovering slightyl above and obviously agitated.

"Oh Raven...what're our orders?" Crow asked without even bothering to speak on the situation or how things looked.

"We are to search out a gem stone and a particularly powerful one at that. with it Crow and I will no longer have to reincarnate." She explained.Then added "The problem is we don't know anything about the stone except that it's powerful and it has to be on this planet. Fortunately we happen to have an experienced Jewel thief who's also somewhat versed in magic..or at least magical items." Raven said narrowing her eyes at Blackfire. Making her feel most uncomfortable.

"uh..right...but without anything to go on even I can't help you much especially with the amount of damage already done here...it may take us years to even get a clue as to where on earth this thing is." Blackfire

"well Trigon said it was of significant power right? we should be able to scry for it then." Crow suggested.

Raven looked at him "Scry? yes...thats a perfect idea lets begin as soon as possible." Raven agreed.

"Alright everyone got the plan?" Robin asked to over the communicator one last time.

Various confirmations came back over the comm.

"Alright then...Let's do this" Robin said looking up at the tower.

End Part 1

Yes yes Instead of doing multiple endings I've decided instead on one multi-PART ending as the reason for the multiple endings was simply going to be different end pairings and perhaps a little bit of differences in who lived and died but I had far too many ideas and following with that would have wound up with like 50 alternate endings sooooo instead you get this one absolute ending that'll be 2 maybe 3 parts long (yes I'm dragging it out...) and depending on reviews maybe I'll write a sequel since I've already got some idea how i want things to end.


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